Japan to launch defense procurement agency

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Japan's Ministry of Defense will use its new constitutional powers to set up an agency to manage international trade of weapons and military equipment.

The ministry confirmed with IHS Jane's that the new agency will be named the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, and will begin operations on October 1.

The agency's key objectives will include promoting international cooperation on the procurement of defense equipment, enhancing project management, and enhancing development for Japanese defense production and technology bases.

The Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency is set to become one of the most powerful wings of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, and will employ 1,800 people.

After a historic vote by the Japanese parliament, the country is no longer a pacifist nation, and may use its security forces in overseas operations. The vote was met with a wave of criticism, however U.S. security experts report there is little reason to expect Japan to actually participate in overseas combat operations any time soon.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party supported the measure in reaction to recorded executions on Japanese nationals by the Islamic State, Sunni militants based in Iraq and Syria also identified as Daesh and by the acronyms IS, ISIS, and ISIL.