Japan Press Weekly

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2023 June 28 - July 4 [POLITICS]

Defense Ministry purchases 1.5 times more US arms under FMS than previous year

In fiscal 2022, the Defense Ministry paid 369.2 billion yen, up 1.5 fold from the previous year, to the U.S. government for arms and fuel procurement under the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

In terms of contract value, the U.S. ranked first, followed by Japan’s leading arms companies, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (365.2 billion yen) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (169.2 billion yen).

Akahata reported this on July 4 based on materials which Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Yamazoe Taku recently obtained from the Defense Ministry.

According to the Defense Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency, major items the ministry in 2022 procured from the U.S. under the FMS program were maintenance services for V-22 Ospreys, technology support for Aegis ships, F35 Stealth fighters and related parts, and rear area support for the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system.

Japan’s purchases of U.S. arms under the FMS program continue to increase after the second Abe administration made a massive purchase of U.S.-made weapons in line with the U.S. Trump administration’s pressure to do so.

The Kishida government, under its policy to double military spending in accordance with the three key national security strategies, plans to spend nearly 1.5 trillion yen for the FMS-related procurement in 2023, a four-fold increase from a year earlier.

It is unacceptable for the government to use Japanese people’s tax money to benefit the U.S. government and U.S. arms companies.

Past related articles:
> Japan among top 3 buyers for 6 consecutive years of US weapons [March 7, 2023]
> Japan increases arms purchases under FMS [June 1, 2022]