Canada’s growing role in space defence may feature a new partner, thanks to a recently signed deal.
On January 27th, David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence, met with His Excellency Kanji Yamanouchi, the Japanese Ambassador to Canada, and subsequently announced that the two countries had agreed to an Equipment and Technology Transfer Agreement (ETTA).
In the announcement, the Government said that the agreement would “help Canadian and Japanese companies co-develop projects that require the transfer of equipment, technology, or intellectual property to Canada.” Canadian and Japanese companies will be able to work more closely together on defence-related projects, as well as export defence equipment and technology between the two countries. The Government said in their announcement that this will help in “providing the Canadian Armed Forces with an additional source of supply.”
Defence shift
The news reflects key changes in the defence outlook in both countries.
While Canada and Japan have been allies for a long time, both countries are moving in directions that make these kinds of deals more relevant. Canada is looking to build diplomatic and trade relationships outside of the traditional Canada-US framework that had dominated up until recently, and has lately emphasized a “buy Canadian” strategy that reduces defence spending on US-made products, stating that the US-Canada relationship must no longer be one of ‘dependency,’ and that Canada needs to widen its international defence partnerships.
Meanwhile, Japan is reevaluating its defence sector and defence posture, quite possibly including changes to the constitution’s well-known prohibitions against Japanese force-projection capabilities. Japan’s new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, has made these changes a central part of her agenda, vowing that Japan will continue its defence build-up and “proactively push for its fundamental buildup of its defense power.”
It also reflects a recent shift in Japanese attitudes towards the defence sector and defence exports. On February 25th, a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) panel approved changes to a number of guidelines restricting defence-related exports, which (according to The Diplomat) “eliminate a restriction that limited defense exports to rescue, transport, warning, surveillance, and minesweeping equipment.” These changes also allow the export of weapons that are co-developed with other nations, presumably including the kind of co-development enabled by this new Canada-Japan ETTA.
In comments to SpaceQ, a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence (DND) said that the agreement “enables Japanese-origin equipment, technology, and intellectual property to be transferred to Canada, either between the governments or between industry.” They said that DND “remains focused on bringing the ETTA into force so that we have the necessary foundation in place to facilitate any future equipment or technology transfers.”
The DND announcement noted that “the ETTAs are a requirement under Japan’s Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology.”
ETTA and space
How does this impact companies that are focused on space? Potentially quite a bit, though it’s still somewhat in the early stages and it’s still being worked out.
DND said that “the ETTA is a forward-looking agreement,” but that since “space projects are planned over a horizon that spans decades, we are in the very early stages of our partnership with the Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF)” on anything regarding space.
Nevertheless, both countries would have an interest in applying this kind of agreement to space.
In the case of Japan, any future transition towards force projection in its military and defence carries the need to develop and protect its space-based surveillance and communication capabilities. As Japan’s military and defence assets venture out beyond the region, space assets could prove critical. And, at the same time, its main regional competitors—North Korea and the People’s Republic of China (PRC)—are building significant capabilities that either operate in the space domain or can exert force upon it.
The PRC, particularly, is building up a presence in space that rivals that of the United States. Japan may need to leverage every partnership it can in order to ensure its own continued presence in the space domain.
In turn, Canada is facing its own set of challenges. Both Prime Minister Mark Carney and Brig. Gen. Chris Horner, Commander of the CAF’s 3 Canadian Space Division, have talked about the problems faced by the “rules-based international order.” That order has, to date, ensured that Canada enjoys peaceful and continuous access to space-based assets, and Horner said last July that preserving that order and preventing aggression is a key goal. “As we build out those partnerships with partners and allies, that’s not just the Five Eyes,” he said, adding that it would involve “new relationships that we are forming in different ways.”
Presumably, that would include Japan.
The need to take a different tack is only exacerbated by the ongoing tensions with the United States. Defence Minister David McGuinty didn’t mention these issues during his comments at the recent SpaceBound conference, but did emphasize the importance of sovereign launch, saying that the government is “investing $182.6 million to establish a sovereign space launch capability,” including domestic spaceports, in order to “defend our assets and protect our interests” and “preserve access to and the sustainability of the space domain.”
Access to Japanese technology and expertise, and potentially the Japanese defence market, might be a critical part of those efforts towards securing access to the space domain, including through sovereign launch, while avoiding the “dependency” that Carney referred to.
In the announcement, McGuinty said that “the signing of the ETTA marks an important advancement in the Canada–Japan defence partnership,” calling Japan a “trusted partner” that is “more important than ever.”
For its part, DND said that they would likely have more information on the ETTA in the coming months. It also reiterated that 3 Canadian Space Division “continues to develop and enable space domain awareness capabilities,” as well as “supporting informed decision making through enhanced awareness and coordination.” So it may well be Horner and his staff who play the most important role in determining the scope and nature of the relationship in the coming months.