Japan Eases Arms Export Rules, Prepares to Sell Missiles to US

Japan has announced that it will prepare to ship Patriot air defense missiles to the United States after revising its arms export guidelines, marking the country's first major overhaul of such export curbs in nine years. The move comes as Japan seeks to boost its defense industry and strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance amid an increasingly tense security environment in the Indo-Pacific. While the new export controls still prevent Japan from shipping weapons to countries at war, it indirectly benefits Ukraine in its conflict with Russia by providing the United States with extra capacity to provide military aid to Kyiv. The revised guidelines now allow Japan to export completed products to countries where patent holders are based, with re-exports to third countries requiring permission from Tokyo.