By: Gabriel DominguezJapan, like Australia, has recognised the growing challenges to regional security require a far more robust and targeted investment in defence industry and focus on national security, with opportunities for greater collaboration with key allies like Australia, writes The Japan Times’ Gabriel Dominguez.
When Asia’s largest naval and maritime exhibition wrapped up in Singapore earlier this month, more than 250 companies from 25 countries and regions had shown off their latest tech and gear.
But one would have been hard-pressed to find Japanese firms.
In fact, just one company — Tokyo-based ship classification society ClassNK — had a stand at IMDEX Asia 2023, while eight other countries, including Australia, Italy, Denmark and the United States, set up entire pavilions at the three-day event.
Although Japan is a large maritime nation and is set to have the world’s third-largest military budget by 2027, the limited presence of domestic firms at international defence exhibitions — except for the recently launched DSEI Japan — raises questions about the state of the country’s defence industry.