US approves nearly $1.4 billion Hawkeye aircraft sale for Japan

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale to Japan for E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft , according to a statement Tuesday from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

Northrop Grumman, which makes the airborne early warning and control aircraft, will serve as the prime contractor for the nearly $1.4 billion deal. Along with logistics and technical support services, the possible sale includes APY-9 radars and AN/AYK-27 integrated navigation control and display systems already installed in the aircraft.

Now that the agency has notified Congress, the value and quantity of materiel could change while negotiations are underway.

“The proposed sale will improve Japan’s ability to effectively provide homeland defense utilizing an AEW&C capability. Japan will use the E-2D AHE aircraft to provide AEW&C situational awareness of air and naval activity in the Pacific region and to augment its existing E-2C Hawkeye AEW&C fleet,” the statement read.

The announcement comes as Japan seeks to increase its military spending. In December, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida asked his Cabinet to secure funds to double military spending to 2% of gross domestic product. Later that month, Tokyo released three major national security documents, with the National Security Strategy calling for counterstrike capabilities in response to missile threats from China and North Korea.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. agency approved the possible sale of 250 Javelin FGM-148F missiles jointly made by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies. Canberra would purchase the missiles and related equipment for about $60.2 million. The value and quantity could still change during negotiations.

Canberra plans to use the missiles to increases its anti-armore capabilities.

“Australia is one of our most important allies in the Western Pacific,” the agency said in its statement. “The strategic location of this political and economic power contributes significantly to ensuring peace and economic stability in the region.”

Canberra joins other security partners recently approved for Javelin sales from the United States. Last month, the State Department approved a possible sale of 600 missiles to the United Kingdom, a fellow member of the AUKUS trilateral security pact. Under the pact, the two countries will help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines .

In October, Australia drew the ire of China when reports said the country would host six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers at Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal, where the United States is building dedicated facilities for the aircraft.

Zamone “Z” Perez is a reporter at Military Times. He previously worked at Foreign Policy and Ufahamu Africa. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he researched international ethics and atrocity prevention in his thesis. He can be found on Twitter @zamoneperez.

华盛顿——据美国国防安全合作局周二发表的声明称，美国国务院已批准向日本出售E-2D先进鹰眼预警机。

生产机载预警与控制飞机的诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司将作为主承包商，负责这项价值近14亿美元的交易。除了后勤和技术支持服务外，此次可能的售货还包括已安装在飞机上的APY-9雷达和AN/AYK-27集成导航控制与显示系统。

既然该机构已经通知国会，那么在谈判进行期间，物资的价值和数量可能会发生变化。

声明称：“拟议的军售将提升日本利用预警机能力有效进行国土防御的能力。日本将使用E-2D AHE预警机为太平洋地区的空中和海上活动提供预警态势感知，并增强其现有的E-2C鹰眼预警机机队。”

此次宣布正值日本寻求增加军费开支之际。去年12月，日本首相岸田文雄要求内阁筹集资金，将军费开支提高一倍，达到国内生产总值的2%。当月晚些时候，东京发布了三份重要的国家安全文件，其中《国家安全战略》呼吁提升反击能力，以应对来自中国和朝鲜的导弹威胁。

周二，美国联邦机构还批准了向澳大利亚出售250枚由洛克希德·马丁公司和雷神技术公司联合研制的“标枪”FGM-148F导弹的可能性。堪培拉方面将以约6020万美元的价格购买这些导弹及相关设备。最终价格和数量仍有可能在谈判过程中发生变化。

堪培拉计划利用这些导弹来增强其反装甲能力。

该机构在声明中表示：“澳大利亚是我们西太平洋地区最重要的盟友之一。这个政治和经济强国的战略位置对确保该地区的和平与经济稳定做出了重大贡献。”

堪培拉加入了近期获准从美国购买“标枪”导弹的其他安全伙伴行列。上个月，美国国务院批准向同为澳美三边安全协议成员国的英国出售600枚导弹。根据该协议，英澳两国将帮助澳大利亚采购核动力潜艇。

10 月份，有报道称澳大利亚将在皇家澳大利亚空军廷德尔基地部署 6 架可携带核弹头的 B-52 轰炸机，而美国正在该基地建造专门用于部署这种飞机的设施，这激怒了中国。

扎莫内·“Z”·佩雷斯是《军事时报》的记者。他曾就职于《外交政策》和《乌法哈姆非洲》。他毕业于西北大学，毕业论文研究国际伦理和暴行预防。他的推特账号是@zamoneperez。