The Defense Ministry on Friday announced that it had signed an agreement with Nippon Steel to acquire the company’s former Setouchi Works site in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, as part of a plan to develop it into a “multifunctional integrated defense hub.”
The site is expected to include Self-Defense Forces offices and barracks, a heliport, disaster response facilities, as well as manufacturing facilities for defense equipment operated by private companies, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told a news conference.
Koizumi emphasized the significance of the project, noting that the area is home to a Maritime Self-Defense Force base and is of “critical importance to Japan’s national security.”
“The signing of this contract marks a significant milestone toward the development of this multifunctional integrated defense hub,” he added.
The defense chief also said the deal will enable the ministry “to move forward concretely with initiatives such as attracting private-sector companies” as it conducts a “broad recruitment drive” for firms involved in the “manufacture, maintenance and research and development of defense equipment.”
The acquisition may be part of a government plan to revise a law to allow state ownership of some defense production facilities as it seeks to secure a stable domestic supply of ammunition and other critical equipment needed in a prolonged emergency,
According to the government’s annual Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform, which the Cabinet approved in July, one key element of its plan is a possible shift toward a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) model, under which the state would own certain production facilities while outsourcing day-to-day operations to private companies.
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