Japan intends to begin exporting 155 mm artillery ammunition to UK

Japan plans to ease weapons export curbs to allow several dozen domestically-produced Patriot air defense missiles to be shipped to the US, a move that will help Washington step up critical supplies to Ukraine, Report informs referring to Financial Times.

Tokyo is also considering exporting to the UK 155mm artillery shells that it makes under license from BAE Systems, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions, a plan also intended indirectly to aid Ukraine.

The arms exports would be permitted by a relaxation of Japan’s strict guidelines on arms deals that the government plans to announce on Friday.

The relaxation is part of a more proactive defense policy that Japan adopted after it increased military spending plans last year. The first change in the arms guidelines in almost a decade will not allow Japan to export military equipment directly to Ukraine.

Instead, it will enable equipment to be exported to a country that provided the license under which it was manufactured.

Under existing rules, Tokyo can only export licensed components rather than entire systems. The people familiar with the discussions said that for several months, Washington had been asking Japan to allow the export of Patriot missiles manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries under license from US defense contractors Lockheed Martin and RTX, formerly Raytheon Technologies. The exports would free up US stocks earmarked for the Indo-Pacific to be sent to Ukraine instead.