Worldwide rearmament: German arms industry is pushing towards Japan

38 German and Japanese companies, including Diehl, KNDS Deutschland, Rheinmetall and DMG Mori, exhibited their defense equipment and weapons technologies at a trade fair in Tokyo. Over 500 visitors came. Nevertheless, everything was supposed to remain secret: the German Chamber of Foreign Trade in Tokyo, as the organizer, banned journalists from visiting the trade fair stands.

The annual German-Japanese Forum for Defense and Security Technology generated particular interest this time: In April, the Japanese government largely lifted its voluntary restrictions on the export of lethal weapons such as missiles and warships. At the same time, in view of the arms buildup in China and North Korea, Japan is expanding its own defense budget by 60 percent to 2 percent of economic output.

Since then, the government in Tokyo has been urging its industry to cooperate more closely with friendly countries such as Germany. In doing so, it wants to satisfy its own new demand for weapons and technologies, strengthen the domestic arms industry and reduce dependence on the USA. “Japanese industry has so far only supplied its own armed forces and therefore has no reserves to ramp up production,” explained Japan expert Alexandra Sakaki from the Science and Politics Foundation in Tokyo.

It was heard from circles at the talks that Germany and Japan aimed to supply each other with tried-and-tested systems and important components, enable industrial scaling and build new ecosystems. Japan can now purchase finished weapon systems directly from the German government at no additional cost. Osamu Nishiwaki, former director general in the Japanese Ministry of Economic Affairs, explained during a discussion on the sidelines of the trade fair: “Germany has great advantages with numerous start-ups that have powerful technologies, but there is also room for cooperation in frigates and submarines.”

The Munich-based defense tech company Helsing uses the Japanese retail giant Rakuten to gain access to the Japanese procurement process. The Japanese army tested the AI-powered HX-2 drone until the end of September. Japan also ordered three Mission Master SP autonomous ground vehicles from Rheinmetall. Marubeni Aerospace is the Japanese prime contractor.

Eurodrone is a separate chapter. Since 2023, Japan has been an observer in the program to develop a European drone supported by Germany, France, Italy and Spain. At the end of June, Europe's largest aerospace and second-largest defense company Airbus and Kawasaki Heavy Industries from Japan signed a memorandum of understanding to examine a Japanese variant of submarine hunting. Japanese sensors and effectors are to be integrated and possible production and maintenance shares for the Japanese industry are to be explored.

What is missing so far is a “lighthouse project” that symbolizes intensified cooperation and serves both partners equally. But it will come soon, the trade fair said. It could be the joint development of new engines for the second generation of the German Taurus cruise missile.

European manufacturer MDBA and Kawasaki Heavy Industries signed a letter of intent in May 2025. Since then, both sides have maintained radio silence. The current engine is supplied by the US manufacturer Williams. But Germany wants to make itself more independent of the USA with the Taurus Neo.