A statement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Tuesday said that the U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale of E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to Japan for military use.
The main contractor for the nearly $1.4 billion deal will be Northrop Grumman, which makes the airborne early warning and control aircraft. Along with logistics and technical support services, the possible sale includes APY-9 radars and AN/AYK-27 integrated navigation control and display systems that are already installed on the aircraft.
Now that the agency has told Congress, the value and amount of material could change while negotiations are going on.
“The proposed sale will make it easier for Japan to defend its own country using an AEW&C capability. Japan will use the E-2D AHE aircraft to keep track of air and naval activity in the Pacific region and to add to its E-2C Hawkeye AEW&C fleet, according to the statement.
Japan wants to spend more on its military, so this news comes at a good time. In December, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida asked his Cabinet to find money to double military spending to 2% of gross domestic product. Later that month, Tokyo released three important national security documents. The National Security Strategy called for counterstrike capabilities because China and North Korea were threatening to launch missiles.
Also on Tuesday, a U.S. agency approved the possible sale of 250 Javelin FGM-148F missiles made by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies. Canberra would pay about $60.2 million for the missiles and other equipment that goes with them. During the talks, the price and amount could still change.
Canberra plans to use the missiles to improve its ability to fight against armoured vehicles.
In its statement, the agency said, “Australia is one of our most important allies in the Western Pacific.” “This political and economic power’s location is very important to keeping peace and economic stability in the area.”
Canberra is the latest security partner in the world to get permission from the US to buy Javelin weapons. Last month, the State Department agreed that the United Kingdom, which is also a member of the AUKUS security pact, could buy up to 600 missiles. Under the agreement, the two countries will help Australia buy submarines that run on nuclear power.
China was upset with Australia in October when it was said that the country would host six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers at the Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal, where the US is building special facilities for the planes.
