Japan Defence Industry debuts at DSEI conference – from UK to Japan

The Defence Industry Conference DSEI normally held in the UK has taken place at Makuhari Messe, Tokyo, on 18-20 November 2019.

Details of the conference are here.

Alex Soar, international development director for Clarion Events which runs DSEI, told Army Technology:

“With DSEI celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, it is the right time to take the event to Japan for the show’s first iteration outside the UK. We have been working Crisis Intelligence, our in-country partners, for four years to shape the exhibition to fit the unique Japanese market and the needs of the Japanese customer. With the reinterpretation of the Japanese constitution several years ago and the relaxation of restrictions on defence imports and exports, we see that it is an appropriate time to offer a new a route to market for those focused on the Asia Pacific region.”

Harry Lye, writing in Army Technology.

The DSEI Japan conference featured two streams organised around five core themes:

• Combating threats of the new era: measures against space, cyber, and electronic warfare
• Responding to airborne threats: strengthening air and missile defence capability
• The freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region: maintaining and enhancing free and open maritime order
• Technologies and overseas transfer of defence equipment
• Crisis management and disaster preparedness 

In the sessions speakers form the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force spoke on issues such as freedom of navigation and the Indo-Pacific alongside speakers from the United States, Australia and the UK, including the recently appointed UK Defence Attaché to Japan, Royal Navy Captain Simon Staley (The Freedom of Navigation in the Indo-Pacific Region: Maintaining and Enhancing Free and Open Maritime Order).