Gcap and more, everything about the agreements between Italy and Japan in defence
Joint exercises between Italy and Japan begin with the Cavour aircraft carrier and F-35. And progress on Gcap. All the details of the meeting in Tokyo between Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Meloni.
Rome and Tokyo are increasingly aligned in the name of defense.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently left Tokyo where she met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday.
At the center of the prime minister's official visit to Japan, the handover for the leadership of the G7 but not only. In fact, Italian military commitments in the Indo Pacific have also been confirmed with joint military exercises and the Italian contribution to Expo Osaka 2025.
As Il Sole 24 Ore underlines, it was the fourth meeting between the two heads of government since the relationship between Italy and Japan was elevated to the rank of strategic partnership. “A job has been done that I am very proud of,” underlined Meloni, referring not only to the “bilateral collaboration” but also to the “multilateral” one.
And this bilateral collaboration is proceeding apace on the defense front.
“Japan is satisfied with the progress made with Italy and the United Kingdom within the Global Combat Air Program (Gcap) project for the development of a new generation combat aircraft” declared Kishida, on the sidelines of the meeting in Tokyo with the Italian president, reports Agenzia Nova.
Late last year, the defense ministers of Japan, Italy and Britain agreed to establish a coordinating body to proceed with the trilateral GCAP project, a key step in starting the development of the sixth-generation fighter.
Kishida then recalled that in March "the first bilateral Foreign and Defense consultation will be held, through which we have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the fields of defense and security"
All the details.
COMMERCIAL INTERCHANGE HAS GROWN
“There has been an intensification of relations” between Italy and Japan, “which translates into a commercial exchange that has grown by 10%, which has reached over 15 billion euros”, explained President Meloni in joint statements to the press with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after the bilateral meeting in Tokyo.
Industrial cooperation was precisely at the center of the meeting that took place in the early afternoon yesterday between the Prime Minister and the leaders of eight large Japanese industrial groups already present in our country, aimed at increasing industrial collaborations between Italy and Japan already existing ones and encourage new ones.
New investments are expected especially in micro electronics and aerospace.
At the residence of the ambassador in Tokyo, Gianluigi Benedetti, Meloni met the leaders of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Denso Corporation, Mitsubishi Ufj Financial Group (Mufg), Mitsui & Co, and Marubeni Corporation.
ITALY AND JAPAN AGREE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF GCAP
Without forgetting that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one of the largest multinational companies in the aerospace, infrastructure and engineering sectors, is the leading Japanese company in the trilateral Gcap program.
As Meloni recalled in the press conference, "A piece of this strategic cooperation is obviously the signing, together with the United Kingdom, of the Convention Constituting the International Organization and the Agency which will have the task of managing the Global Combat Air Program, the Gcap, i.e. the program to jointly develop an absolutely cutting-edge sixth-generation fighter aircraft by 2035. It clearly means innovation, it means growth, it means jobs, broad prospects for further industrial cooperation. With Fumio we agreed on the importance of continuing on this path, launching concrete projects within the framework of our already signed Memorandum on cooperation on scientific research, intensifying cooperation in strategic sectors such as space, semiconductors, energy, strengthening defense cooperation even beyond the Gcap program".
FOCUS ON THE INDO-PACIFIC WITH THE SENDING OF THE CAVOUR AND F-35 AIRCRAFT CARRIER
With Japan there is a "relaunch of collaboration in political and strategic terms" continued Meloni.
And in this regard, the president announced the national plan to send to Japan the Italian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier, the Cavour, the Navy's Vespucci training ship – "emblem of Italian soft power" according to The Diplomat – and a fleet of F-35 fighter.
Meloni explained that our country has been asked, "particularly by Japan, to increase our presence in the area, also on cooperation in the defense sector, which then materializes particularly with the Global Combat Air Program, but not only, and which in my opinion must explore new areas, new sectors".
“The new consultation mechanism on security and defense starts in March, and there will be important joint military exercises, because Italy intends to have an increasingly significant presence in the Indo-Pacific: the Cavour aircraft carrier, the Vespucci training ship, and our F35s” illustrated the Prime Minister.
“I welcome that Italy is increasing its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and that numerous Italian ships, including an aircraft carrier, may call in Japan to participate in exercises,” declared Japanese Prime Minister Fumio for his part Kishida in the joint statements with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after the bilateral meeting in Tokyo.
STRENGTHENED TIES BETWEEN NAVIES
Just last year, in the aftermath of the dispatch of Nave Francesco Morosini, the second ship of the Polivalent Offshore Patrol (PPA) class of the Navy, which set sail on 6 April for the naval campaign in the Far East, the hypothesis was discussed of the possible sending of Nave Cavour to the Indo-Pacific region.
As The Diplomat recalled, in June last year, Nave Francesco Morosini visited Yokosuka, south of Tokyo and home to the US Navy's Seventh Fleet and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), becoming the first Italian Navy ship to anchor in a Japanese port in 27 years.
Then, Admiral Ryo Sakai, chief of staff of the JMSDF, and the head of the Italian Navy, Admiral Enrico Credendino, agreed to work together to make the relationship between the two naval services "as strong as Romeo and Juliet" in their second meeting last year, according to the Jmsdf, also reported by The Diplomat .
Less than a year away, the time has become ripe for sending the Italian Navy's flagship to the Indo-Pacific.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/gcap-e-non-solo-ecco-come-le-intese-tra-italia-e-giappone-si-rafforzano-nella-difesa/ on Tue, 06 Feb 2024 12:05:05 +0000.