The Japanese defense industry is the major supplier of the nations own Self-Defense Forces. Production costs are high, due to several factors: the successful Japanese economy of the postwar period allowed for generous defense spending; few products are exported, keeping production numbers low; research and development is done independently where possible, securing national self-sustainability; public investment in Japan tends to be uneconomic, aimed largely at gaining local voter support.
Dismantled by occupation authorities after World War II, armaments production in Japan resumed shortly before the end of the Allied occupation in 1952, when the nation's manufacturers began repairing and maintaining equipment for United States forces operating in Asia. Individual producers emerged as affiliates of larger industrial conglomerates, including the former zaibatsu of Mitsubishi and Sumitomo. After 1954 the defense industry began to arm the SDF, at first making only slight improvements on United States-designed equipment manufactured for local use. The Japanese defense industry received about US$10 billion worth of advanced technology from the United States between 1950 and 1983.
In July 1970, then Defense Agency director general Nakasone Yasuhiro established five objectives for the defense industry:
to maintain Japan's industrial base for national security
to acquire equipment from Japan's domestic research and development and production efforts
to use civilian industries for domestic arms production
to set long-term goals for research and development and production
to introduce competition into defense production
By the late 1970s, indigenous suppliers had developed and produced an almost complete range of modern equipment, including aircraft, tanks, artillery, and major surface and underwater naval combatants. Certain types of highly sophisticated weaponry, including F-15 fighters, P-3C Orion antisubmarine aircraft, and 8-inch howitzers, were produced under license. Except for the most complex and costly items, such as the E-2C airborne earlywarning aircraft, little was purchased complete from foreign suppliers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_industry_of_Japan
