Japan Press Weekly

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2013 November 27 - December 3 [SDF]

Abe paves way to the dispatching of fully armed SDF abroad

The Abe Cabinet on November 29 approved of abolishing the ban on arms that SDF personnel are allowed to use during missions evacuating Japanese civilians from a nation in an emergency.

This came out following the recent revision in the Self-Defense Forces Law to enable the SDF to transport Japanese nationals using land vehicles in emergency operations abroad.

SDF members who are assigned to emergency duty to transport overseas Japanese are at present permitted to only carry small firearms under the 1999 Cabinet approval.

The Abe administration retracted this cabinet approval and authorized the SDF to carry “necessary and appropriate” weapons in accordance with the relevant law.

The Abe Cabinet approval will pave the way to dispatching a heavily-armed SDF to other nations throughout the world.