Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

US and Japan agree to build AMRAAM assembly plant in Japan

Co-develops SM-3 Block IIA with Raytheon

Japan will host a plant that does final assembly and testing of the AIM-120 AMRAAM, the air-to-air missile carried by F-35 fighters. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth agreed to the facility on Oct. 28 in Cebu, Philippines.

Updated Oct 31

Japan launches mission to bring back the first samples from Mars's moon

New Capabilities

Joint developer of the H3 rocket that launched MMX

Japan's Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft is healthy two days after launch, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said on October 21, with the critical first sequence of operations complete. The probe lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center at 4:41 a.m. local time on October 20 aboard an H3 rocket.

Updated Oct 26

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries wins another Singapore LRT order

Built World

Supplier of SPLRT trains and systems since 2003

Singapore's Land Transport Authority ordered eight more two-car trains for the Sengkang-Punggol light rail line, taking Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' third-generation order to 33 trainsets. The order, confirmed by MHI on October 5, is part of a program to lift capacity on the 23-year-old system by 30 percent.

Updated Oct 21

Japan's H3 rocket returns to flight with new booster-free design

New Capabilities

As of June 2026: Prime contractor building and marketing the H3

Japan's H3 rocket has been out of service since a December 2025 upper-stage failure destroyed a navigation satellite. A June 10 launch attempt was scrubbed by weather; JAXA reset the window to June 12, opening at 9:54 a.m. local time.

Updated Jun 11

Japan ends postwar ban on lethal weapons exports

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Japan's largest defense contractor, building frigates for Australia

Japan banned lethal weapons exports in 1967 and tightened the prohibition in 1976. On April 21, 2026, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet scrapped those limits.

Updated May 31

Japan arms itself with long-range missiles for the first time since World War II

Force in Play

As of May 2026: Lead manufacturer of Japan's new long-range missile systems

For eight decades, Japan's military existed under a constitutional leash: no offensive weapons, no power projection, no ability to strike an enemy beyond its own shores. That era ended on March 9, 2026, when trucks carrying upgraded Type-12 missiles rolled into Camp Kengun in Kumamoto under cover of darkness. Built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the missiles can hit targets roughly 1,000 kilometers away, enough to reach mainland China, and are Japan's first domestically developed long-range strike weapons.

Updated May 30