With a five-year average of over $54 billion annually for arms, the Japanese military budget with be approximately as large as that of Russia.

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Associated Press
December 9, 2022

Japan to jointly develop new fighter jet with UK, Italy

Japan announced Friday that it will jointly develop its next-generation fighter jet with the U.K. and Italy as Tokyo looks to expand defense cooperation beyond its traditional ally, the United States.

The Mitsubishi F-X fighter jet will replace the aging fleet of F-2 that Japan previously developed with the United States.

Japan’s F-X and Britain’s Tempest, a successor to the Eurofighter Typhoon, will be combined into the next-generation combat aircraft for deployment in 2035. The deal will give Japan greater support in countering China…allow Britain a bigger presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Friday’s fighter jet announcement came four days after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced spending targets aimed at building up Japan’s military capability, including a huge boost in defense spending over the next five years. To meet the five-year spending total of $316 billion, the government will need an extra $30 billion in defense spending annually…..

The revised national security strategy, whose release is expected later this month, is predicted to allow the country to have a pre-emptive strike capability and to deploy long-range missiles. That’s a major and contentious shift away from Japan’s self-defense only defense policy adopted after its World War II defeat in 1945.

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Japan’s new security strategy allows it a bigger strike capability and it hopes to expand joint exercises in Australia, including firing drills that are difficult to conduct at home….

The Defense Ministry said the new aircraft will be a multi-role stealth fighter superior to the F-35 and the Eurofighter, with advanced censors and networking. The new warplane is expected to replace 94 F-2s in Japan, 144 Eurofighters in the U.K. and 94 Eurofighters in Italy, Japanese officials said.

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Under the fighter jet agreement, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will partner with British defense contractor BAE Systems PLC. Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A will be a key player in the project. Japan’s IHI, Britain’s Rolls Royce and Italy’s Avio Aero will be in charge of its engine, while Mitsubishi Electric Co., Leonardo U.K. and Leonardo S.p.A. will work on avionics, the Japanese side said.

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Defense News
December 8, 2022

Move over, Tempest: Japan pact takes UK-Italy fighter plan ‘global’

Britain, Italy and Japan are to co-operate in developing a sixth-generation fighter, the three nations say in a joint statement due for release on early Friday.

Few details were available before the scheduled announcement beyond the project’s name – Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) – and the fact the partners say they plan to have the fighter ready by 2035.

Britain and Italy have previously collaborated in early development work on their own future combat air project, while Japan has been pursuing its next-generation F-X program.

If GCAP goes ahead it will be the biggest Japanese-European defense co-operation program ever undertaken.

For the moment there is no mention of whether Sweden remains interested in joining the program.

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Breaking Defense
December 9, 2022

UK, Japan and Italy launch Global Combat Air Programme to deliver next generation fighter

The UK, Japan and Italy have signed an “international coalition” agreement to deliver a Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) that will see the partner nations collaboratively develop a next-generation fighter aircraft.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak launched the first major phase of GCAP during a visit to RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England, today.

The move merges the UK and Italian Tempest/Future Combat Air System partnership with Japan’s F-X next-generation fighter program, breaking close governmental and industrial ties between the US and Japan on combat jet manufacturing in the process.

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The GCAP effort is one of two sixth-generation fighter designs underway in Europe. In competition is the Franco-German-Spanish effort known as the Future Combat Aircraft System (SCAF)….