Description
In the contemporary period, and as seen in its 2022 ‘National Security Documents’, Japan has
not abandoned its ambitions or traditional model to preserve an indigenous defence
production capacity, even if accepting the need for significant modifications of its approach.
This paper utilises Japan’s case to address the related questions of how ‘tier-two’ states
attempt to navigate—effectively or otherwise—approaches for developing an indigenous
defence production base, including: exploitation of the interface of domestic civilian and
military industrial sectors; selection of key technologies and sectors for prioritisation; and
minimising over-dependence on, and linking with, foreign partners for the importation and
development of weaponry. Although the paper considers Japan’s defence production
ambitions across a full range of weapons platforms and the extent of its model in meeting
national strategic and industrial objectives, it places particular focus on examining Japanese
interest in fighter plane production from the post-war to the contemporary era and the new
Global Combat Air Programme for a sixth-generation fighter—involving Japan, the UK and
Italy, and potentially other partners—as a way to break into the ‘tier-one’ of arms producers.
