September 12, 2024

Akahata editorial

The Ministry of Defense is accelerating its move to bring universities, public research institutes, and private business entities fully into military research and development projects. The aim of this move is to create a system to promote R&D by means of military-industry-academia collaboration, like in the United States. The MoD’s move constitutes critical part of the Liberal Democratic-Komei government policy to turn Japan into a war-fighting nation in accordance with the three key national security documents.

Establishment of new defense R&D center

The Defense Ministry in October will establish a new institute for innovative technology development, the “Defense Innovation Technology Institute”, within the Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA). The agency currently operates research centers for aerial, ground, and naval systems, and a center for the development of future capabilities. The ministry explains that the new Institute will be set up in order to fundamentally reinforce R&D foundations to materialize epoch-making equipment and defense capabilities ahead of other countries, and will conduct “Breakthrough Research” for developing defense functions and technologies that will change the future of warfare. This will further intensify the arms race using cutting-edge technologies.

The biggest feature of the new Institute is the utilization of research and human resources in the private sector. The MoD plans to recruit half of the 100 new Institute members from outside the ministry. It also plans to invite 11 civilians, including executives of corporations and university research centers, as “program managers” in charge of the design and management of “Breakthrough Research”.

As the budget for “Breakthrough Research”, the ministry allocated 10.2 billion yen this fiscal year and will seek 25.2 billion yen in fiscal 2025. The reason for providing such generous treatment to the new Institute with 100 personnel is that the ministry intends to use extravagant funding to lure external talent.

The new Institute will also be responsible for the “National Security Technology Research Promotion Fund” under which the private sector is invited to apply for basic research that will “contribute to future defense capabilities”. Starting in fiscal 2015, the Fund in this fiscal year is budgeted at 10.4 billion yen. The number of applications for funding totaled 203, which is 1.7 times that of the previous fiscal year. The number of university applications almost doubled to 44. Of these, the Institute selected 25 university applications with an average allocation of 416 million yen in funds for their projects.

Meanwhile, 15 federations of academic societies and 250 academic societies jointly submitted a petition to the Education, Science and Technology Minister on September 6, requesting that the amount of government grants for publicly-invited scientific research be doubled. Many universities nowadays face a shortage of research funds due to reductions in university operating subsidies from the government. More than 20,000 scientific research projects are approved each year for government grants in aid, but the average amount allocated per research project remains at about 2.5 million yen.

In contrast, the Defense Ministry’s research and development expenditures increased sharply in response to the Cabinet decision on the “three key national security documents”. Its R&D spending reached 822.5 billion yen in fiscal 2024, six times the amount ten years ago.

Japan’s science technology may lean toward arms development

The Defense Ministry on August 2 presented some materials to the “expert panel on fundamental enhancement of defense capabilities”. The materials show that in the United States, research institutes of the U.S. military, the arms industry, universities, research institutes, and think tanks work closely together to promote advanced R&D. On the other hand, in Japan, the materials point out that the ATLA and the arms industry conduct defense-related R&D. The materials emphasize the need to build a system in Japan, similar to that in the United States. The new Institute to be established in October is, in fact, part of the attempt to have a military-industrial-academia R&D system modeled after the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The Science Council of Japan has adopted a statement three times which refuses to engage in research for military purposes. Any move that would make Japan’s scientific and technological development even more military-oriented must be prevented.