Report: Japan enacts new defence industry law

Japanese legislation to strengthen the country’s defence industrial base has come into force, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Tokyo has confirmed.

The MoD said the new law – provisions of which allow the state to take control of ailing defence firms – is part of Japan’s wider efforts to respond to growing regional security threats.

The law, titled the Defense Production Infrastructure Reinforcement Act, came into effect on 1 October and was proposed in June in line with defence policies introduced by the government at the end of 2022. The law replaces the Strategy on Defense Production and Technological Bases, which was introduced in 2014.

A spokesperson from the MoD told Janes, “In order for business operators to stably manufacture and repair defence equipment, we believe that it is important to appropriately implement the law.”