ACROSS THE AP POOL
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto (left) speaks at a joint press conference after the signing rite of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) with British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps (pictured) and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, right, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo. .
TOKYO – The defense ministers of Japan, Britain and Italy signed an agreement on Thursday to identify a joint organization to expand a new fighter jet complex, as the two countries try to cooperate in the face of growing threats from China, Russia and the United Kingdom. North Korea.
The three countries agreed last year to merge their previous individual plans (for Japan’s Mitsubishi F-X to succeed the retired F-2s evolved with the U. S. ) to merge with the U. S. The U. S. Navy and Britain’s Tempest will be used to produce the new fighter jet to be deployed in 2035.
Japan, which is rapidly building up its military, hopes to have greater capability to counter China’s rising assertiveness and allow Britain a bigger presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara at a joint news conference with his British and Italian counterparts, Grant Shapps and Guido Crosett, said that co-developing a high performance fighter aircraft is “indispensable to securing air superiority and enabling effective deterrence” at a time Japan faces an increasingly severe security environment.
Kihara said no country can protect itself today, adding that securing the generation and investment needed to expand a complex combat aircraft carries wonderful risks. The joint trilateral Global Combat Air program is a “landmark program,” he said, allowing the three countries to work in combicountry to create a new combat aircraft while reducing risk.
Under the plan, a joint body called the International Government Organization will manage the private sector joint venture — which includes Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy, Britain’s BAE Systems PLC and Italy’s Leonardo — to oversee the aircraft’s development. The organization is tasked with distributing work in different areas, such as the engine and avionics.
The organization, known as GIGO, will be headquartered in Britain and headed by a Japanese official, and the joint venture will be led by an Italian representative, Kihara said. The top posts will rotate every few years, Japanese defense officials said.
Japan is moving ahead despite delayed approval at home to ease its current policy that bans the export of lethal weapons. The restriction under Japan’s postwar pacifist Constitution does not allow the country to sell a jointly developed fighter jet and possibly complicates the project, since Britain and Italy hope to be able to sell the new combat aircraft.
A Japanese government panel discussed easing military sales and agreed to ease restrictions on the movement of authorized generation and equipment. But it recently postponed until early next year the policy resolution on non-rare fighter jets.
Defense officials declined to talk about how the scenario might affect the joint project.
This assignment is the first time Japan has participated in a multinational organization to expand new military equipment.
To counter developing threats from China, North Korea and Russia, Japan has expanded its defense partnerships with countries in Europe, Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, Australia and the Philippines.
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