Japan will transfer Patriot missiles to the United States. This will also help Ukraine

Japan will supply the United States with missiles for the Patriot air defense system. This will also help Ukraine.

This was announced by US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan said that these missiles will replenish American stocks depleted by military aid to Ukraine. The move would also give the US flexibility to send more modern air defense assets to Ukraine. Japan is a licensed producer of missiles before the Patriot.

In order to transfer the missiles to the United States, the Japanese government relaxed the rules for the export of defense equipment, writes The Japan Times. The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida explained this step by the fact that military exports had become an important political tool. For the first time since 2014, Tokyo revised the countryʼs rules for the transfer of defense equipment and technology, which have been in place since 1976.

• Earlier , the US asked Japan to help Ukraine with Patriot air defense missiles. The White House expected Tokyo to formalize policy changes that would allow the export of several dozen Patriot missiles to the United States.
• Japan is a licensed producer of missiles before the Patriot.