Japan is looking to develop an engine for main battle tank in collaboration with Turkey 0701143

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Defence & Security News - Japan
 
 
Tuesday, January 7, 2014 10:07 AM
 
Japan is looking to develop an engine for main battle tank in collaboration with Turkey.
The Japanese government is looking to ink a deal on a joint development of tank engines with Turkey taking advantage of the easing of arms embargo rules which started in 2011, this according to government sources close to the issue on Saturday, January 4, 2013. Turkey is reportedly interested in engine technology used in the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force’s (GSDF) Type 10 tank, according to the same sources.
     

The Type 10 is the latest generation of main battle tank in service with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force’s.
     

According to initial plans, the joint engine development will be realized between a group endorsed by the Turkish government and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., which has developed the engine of the state-of-the-art main battle tank. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on a three-day visit in Tokyo starting today, and is expected to ink the deal with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

This deal is part of the agreement between the two countries to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of defense and the military. Japan’s Type 10 tanks have already been deployed in Japan, with the GSDF looking to get 66 units more by March 2015. The Type 10 tank boasts of high mobility, including a backward movement speed of 70 km/h.

This deal is now made possible under the 2011 proclamation of then-Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, allowing arms and military products to be jointly developed with other countries, on the condition that they obtain Japan’s approval in advance when exporting the technology to a third-party. Under the same rules, Japan and Britain reached an agreement in July last year to jointly develop defense equipment and. It has long been Japan’s policy not to export weapons to communist states, to countries that are subject to arms embargoes under U.N. resolutions, and to countries involved in international conflicts.