According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on May 10, the Japanese government is discussing exporting the next-generation fighter jets jointly developed with the United Kingdom and Italy to Australia. India and Canada also expressed concern about this. If these countries can introduce common equipment, it will help promote close cooperation among all parties in training and equipment procurement and enhance relations in the field of security guarantees. Against the backdrop of instability in the global situation, Japan's move is also aimed at expanding the "quasi-alliance" framework.

Judging from the current technical details, it is difficult to achieve different generations of the new fighter jets jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy.

Judging from the current technical details, it is difficult to achieve different generations of the new fighter jets jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy.

The next generation of fighter jets is the successor to the F-2 fighter jets of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the "Typhoon" fighter jets used by the British and Italian armies. Since December 2022, the cooperation plan between Japan, Britain and Italy has officially started. Companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, Baiyi Systems in the UK and Leonardo in Italy will participate in the joint development and strive to achieve deployment by 2035.

The governments of Japan, Britain and Italy and the defense industry have recently begun consultations with export target countries such as Australia. The Australian Ministry of Defense said in an interview: "Japan, Britain and Italy have explained to relevant personnel of the Australian Air Force about the next generation of fighter jets."

Since Australia has established a security cooperation framework with the United States and the United Kingdom, the Australian-AUKUS Alliance (AUKUS), it is relatively easy to cooperate with Japan, Britain and Italy. In addition, regarding the drone that cooperates with the next-generation fighter jets, AUKUS is inquiring about its intention to participate in the research and development of Japan, and there is a huge room for cooperation between the two sides.

For Japan, Australia is a "quasi-alliance". Japan has listed the Australian military as the target of "weapons, etc.". "Weapons, etc. protection" refers to the act of the Self-Defense Force providing protection to ships and other countries. In response to China's strengthening maritime activities, Japan is committed to establishing a stronger and long-term defensive cooperation relationship.

Countries other than Australia also show interest in the next-generation fighter jets. Japan positioned India as a "friendly country", and the former had inquired about its intention to introduce the next-generation fighter jet in February. Friendly countries are close to their positioning, and Japan has also signed the "Military Supply and Service Mutual Support Agreement" with India.

The Indian army has always used Russian-made fighter jets. If India introduces the same equipment as Japan and Europe, its relationship with the Western camp may be closer.

Japan-India relations have been centered on the Quad Security Dialogue (Quad) of the Japan-US-Australia-India Cooperation Framework. "Quad originally had a strong diplomatic color, and it is necessary to further promote cooperation in the field of security in the future," said an official from the Japanese Ministry of Defense.

In addition, Canada is also interested in participating in cooperation. When asked in writing by parliament, "whether Canada is considered to participate in the joint development plan", British Defense Procurement Secretary Maria Eagle replied on April 1: "Japan, Britain and Italy have a positive attitude towards cooperation with other countries."

Saudi Arabia is also considering purchasing equipment and providing development funds as a "partner country". Saudi Arabia hopes to participate in the development plan as much as possible, and showed a flexible attitude that is not limited to the form of cooperation when consulting with Japan, Britain and Italy in April. Saudi Arabia will explore participating in joint manufacturing and equipment maintenance.

The background factor of the reason why countries pay attention to cooperation in the field of defense is that the Trump administration in the United States comes to power. Countries are worried about whether the United States can continue to maintain the global security system in the future, so they promote the formulation of a "just in case" strategy and explore cooperation with other countries except the United States.

For Japan, Britain and Italy, broadening the export channels of fighter jets will help more like-minded countries to have a common equipment foundation, reduce the difficulty of allocating resources such as parts, and hope to improve cross-regional defense and deterrence.

If the manufacturing quantity increases, the manufacturing cost of a single fighter is expected to be reduced. Analysts believe that the production breakeven point of the next generation of fighter jets is 500. According to the plan of Japan, Britain and Italy, if the number of next-generation fighter jets exported to other countries is included, the number of manufacture can exceed 500.

The chaos in the US defense industry also brought opportunities for Japan, Britain and Italy. Boeing has suffered losses many times due to development delays. Lockheed Martin has been slow in the production of F-35 fighter jets, and nine fighter jets originally scheduled to be delivered to the Aviation Self-Defense Force in 2024 failed to be delivered on schedule.

On the other hand, the development of next-generation fighter jets still faces uncertainty. There is no clear progress on the plans to produce prototypes by the end of 2025. Some people within the Ministry of Defense and the defense industry also believe that the deployment of the next-generation fighter jets may not be completed by 2035.