Japan's security policy is changing from "defensive" to "offensive" with the adoption of the new version of the "three national security documents", and its pace of developing offensive weapons is also accelerating. Recently, Japan made a high-profile announcement that it will jointly develop the sixth-generation fighter jet with the UK and Italy. Military commentator Du Wenlong believes that the three countries are trying to get rid of their technological dependence on the US.
Du believes that the main weapons and equipment of the UK, Italy, and Japan, especially fighter jets, all come from the US. If the US cuts off supply or if there are failures in transportation or other links, the combat capabilities of the aviation weapons and equipment of the three countries will be seriously depleted. Furthermore, the development of domestic weapons and equipment can reduce costs. If they blindly cater to the US and spend a lot of money to buy American weapons and equipment, it might work in the short term, but it will not be sustainable in the long run. In addition, the self-developed weapons and equipment are better in terms of practicality and have stronger adaptability to form their own combat capabilities.
As for the prospect of cooperation between Britain, Italy and Japan, Du pointed out that although the three countries have a certain gap in the basic materials and technologies of the main research and development of aviation weapons compared with the US, the joint research and development have some certain strength. If these countries can jointly set goals, design technical ideas, and reach a consensus on the so-called stealth, networking, informatization, and intelligence, it can help in the development of the new generation of fighter jets. Now that the era of the "US dominating the world" has completely passed, these countries need to develop the next generation of fighter jets based on their own basic capabilities. The models and concepts exhibited by them represent their own technological development ideas.
Du also explained the reasons why Japan, which has always been very submissive to the US, uncharacteristically refuse to jointly develop new fighter jets with the US and work with Britain and Italy instead. One is the conservative policy of US in exporting military technology. Even for hard-core allies like Japan, it is impossible for the US to fully teach Japan the core technology of its own weapons and equipment. The weapons and equipment used by the US are very different compared with the version exported to Japan. In addition, the price of US equipment is relatively high. The prices of Apache helicopters and F-35 fighter jets sold by the US are outrageously high.
At present, Japan is involved in violation of the peace constitution and the so-called the strategy of going out, with the long-distance offensive capability being the core element. If Japan can jointly develop its weapons and equipment with other countries, it will also say no to the US while getting rid of the dependence on US military technology. In the future, Japan's strategy may break the red line and launch attacks against the US and other so-called allies around it.
Du also pointed out that Japan has been "relaxing the restrictions" on the issue of arms exports in the past few years. At present, Japan has decommissioned many combat ships, including main battle weapons and equipment, and faces many problems in foreign sales. For example, the export of ShinMaywa US-2 seaplanes to India has not been finalized due to the cumbersome procedures. If the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology are further simplified and procedures are streamlined, then Japan can make relatively large progress in the export of full sets of weapons and equipment in the future. At present, Japan is planning to use various methods to make holes in the peace constitution, it will have a serious impact on regional security, and pose a major threat to global security, said Du.
Editor's note: Originally published on the website of Yangtze River News, a news channel of Hubei TV, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
