Japan plans to supply artillery ammunition to the United Kingdom

22 December, 2023 The L15A1 155mm artillery shell manufactured in Japan under license. Photo credits: Rikuzi The Japanese government plans to supply 155mm artillery ammunition to the United Kingdom as part of facilitating export requirements.

The Financial Times reported on this. The transfer of 155-mm artillery shells to the United Kingdom will not violate the "three Principles" export conditions adopted by the Japanese government in 2014. This is also due to the fact that both countries want to help Ukraine with weapons and ammunition.

For this reason, Japan intends to transfer its artillery ammunition to the United Kingdom, while the UK will transfer artillery ammunition from its own depots to Ukraine.

Loading a 155-mm L15A1 projectile for firing from a Type 19 wheeled self-propelled howitzer. Photo from the network

In total, 24 Japanese companies are involved in the production of artillery shells, producing British 155-mm L15A1 projectiles for Type 99 self-propelled howitzers, Type 19 wheeled self-propelled howitzers and FH-70 towed howitzers. New plans to export ammunition came about after the United States asked the Japanese government to buy back PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot air defense system.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is the only foreign manufacturer of this missile type. In addition, Japanese companies produce a full range of parts for missiles of this type that ensures relatively independent production from US companies. The country has already fulfilled the first export order for the production and delivery of FPS-3ME air surveillance radars to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The J/FPS-3ME air surveillance radar is installed at the base of the 580th Aircraft Control and Warning Wing of the Philippine Air Force

As Militarnyi previously reported, during a Japanese-Indonesian meeting in Tokyo, representatives of both countries agreed to build a large patrol vessel for the Indonesian Coast Guard.

Representatives of both countries agreed that Japan would provide Indonesia with £5.6 million in grant aid as part of a project to strengthen maritime security capabilities. The construction of a new patrol vessel for the Indonesian Coast Guard will be carried out by the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which specializes in the construction of various classes of surface patrol vessels for the Japanese Coast Guard. The area of the Republic of Indonesia is 1,920,000 m2, which is about five times larger than Japan.

At the same time, the country's coast guard has only 10 patrol vessels ranging in length from 48 m to 110 m.