Japan Looks To Tap Technology For Military Use, In Another Step Away From Pacifism -- Financial Express/Reuters
(Reuters) - Japan is finalizing a budget for a new command centre for cutting-edge research modeled after the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to try to tap a broad swathe of civilian technologies with potential military uses.
The planned research program is another symbol of hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to bolster Japan's military as he seeks to make it less bound by the limits of the pacifist post-war constitution.
Besides raising defense spending modestly after years of declines, Abe is seeking to ease Japan's self-imposed ban on weapons exports and revise an interpretation of the constitution that prohibits the country from militarily aiding an ally under attack.
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Update: Japan set to create DARPA-style agency for military tech -- The Register
My Comment: I am not surprised by this Japanese decision to develop a DARPA type agency .... what surprises me is that it has taken them this long to make one. On a side note .... here is a prediction .... this Japanese agency will become known as "JARPA".