JAPAN EYEING ASIAN MARKET
Meanwhile, Japan is also courting the foreign market following a shift in the country’s security policy, which opened its local defence industry to the global market.
It is eyeing Asia, where defence spending is on the rise due to economic growth and China’s military expansion.
Japan’s defence ministry has set up a booth at the Singapore Airshow for the first time, showcasing its capabilities from aircraft manufacturing to communications. It has also brought along 13 Japanese companies with the aim of supporting sales to other countries.
Both Japan and South Korea are the United States’ most important allies in Asia.
“For the case of Japan and Korea especially, they are very integrated into the Western supply chain. They’re interoperable with western systems,” said Aviation Week Network’s Asia Pacific senior correspondent Chen Chuanren.
“And I think more importantly is that given what’s happening around the world, many countries are looking to get military equipment fast and urgently, and (Korea, in particular,) has the capacity and the capability to generate and produce military equipment very easily for these countries.”