US-Japan Exclusive Patriot Missile Production Plan Hits Boeing Components Hurdle

By Nobuhiro Kubo and Tim Kelly

TOKYO (Reuters) – A U.S. plan to use Japanese factories to increase production of Patriot air defense missiles – used by Ukraine to defend against Russian attacks – is being delayed by shortages of a critical component made by Boeing, they said. four sources.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) already manufactures about 30 PAC-3 missiles a year under license from defense firm Lockheed Martin and could increase that number to about 60, two Japanese government officials and two industry sources told Reuters. .

The U.S. hopes to increase production from about 500 a year to more than 750 a year worldwide as quickly as possible, a person familiar with the program said. But no expansion will be possible in Japan without additional supplies of the missile hunters, which guide them in the final phases of flight, officials and industry sources said.

“It could take several years for MHI to be able to increase production” due to the shortage, said one of the industry sources, who, like the others, declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The production hurdle in Japan highlights the challenges Washington faces in linking industrial aid from its global allies to its complex supply chains.

Boeing last year began expanding its U.S. seeker factory to increase production by 30%, although the additional lines will not operate until 2027. The company did not say last year how many had been produced, but noted that it had just delivered its 5,000. th.

A Boeing representative referred questions to Lockheed Martin, the interceptor’s prime contractor.

Lockheed Martin said it is increasing its U.S. production of Patriot interceptors from 500 to 650 by 2027. Each costs about $4 million.

Even if there are enough applicants available, expanding Japan’s annual PAC-3 production beyond 60 would require MHI to build more capacity.

In its 2022 plan to double military spending, Japan’s government said it would offer financial aid to defense companies that want to expand production. These subsidies, however, only apply to equipment intended for the country’s Self-Defense Forces and not for exports.

That means MHI or the United States would have to cough up the money to pay for a new PAC-3 factory, which could cost tens of millions of dollars or more, one of the Japanese government sources said.

“The Indo-Pacific is a major area of ​​focus for the U.S. and our allies and strategically positioned capabilities in the region are critical to supporting deterrence and maintaining readiness,” Lockheed Martin said in an email, referring to issues about PAC-3 production in Japan. to the governments of Japan and the USA and to MHI.

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Japan’s Defense Ministry declined to comment. MHI declined to comment.

A US defense official said a $4.5 billion contract signed in June with the US Army – the main customer for the Patriot system – marked the beginning of an increase in missile and seeker production.

The foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the United States are expected to meet in Tokyo this month for talks that are expected to include deepening defense industrial cooperation. The Patriot project is seen as a key part of this effort.

Even with help from allies, supply chain bottlenecks complicate U.S. efforts to meet Ukraine’s demand for munitions, including air defense systems that can thwart Russian attacks.

In the deadliest wave of airstrikes in months, a Russian missile struck a children’s hospital in July, killing at least 41 civilians.

In December 2023, Japan relaxed military export rules to allow it to help replenish U.S. stocks of Patriot missiles, which had been used to aid Ukraine.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, who called it a “historic decision,” has been a leading advocate of deeper military-industrial ties with Japan, which could ease pressure on U.S. defense contractors.

US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed in April to deepen defense industry cooperation.

In an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal two months after that meeting, Emanuel described the shrinking US military-industrial complex as a “weak link” that had been exposed by the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.

(Reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo, Tim Kelly; additional reporting by Mike Stone, Allison Lampert, Idrees Ali and Kaori Kaneko; editing by Gerry Doyle and Sam Holmes)