Japan to order new combat vehicles in 2024

The Type 16 MCV (pictured above taking part in Fuji Firepower demonstration 2018 at the Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Gotemba, Japan) is designed for high-speed self-deployment, enabling JGSDF rapid deployment regiments to quickly reach areas threatened by amphibious landings. (Janes/Kelvin Wong)

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) will procure two new vehicles based on the Type 16 8×8 wheeled Mobile Combat Vehicle (MCV) in 2024, a Japan Ministry of Defense's (MoD's) Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) spokesperson told Janes in early March.

In the fiscal year (FY) 2024 plan, the MoD has allocated JPY24.2 billion (USD164 million) to procure 24 infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) and JPY8 billion to procure eight manoeuvre mortar combat vehicles (MMCVs) for the JGSDF, the spokesperson said. Both vehicles are based on the Type 16 MCV.

The MoD intends to sign a contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in FY 2024 to procure the ICVs and MMCVs, and the delivery of vehicles will start in 2027, with the final delivery in 2028, the spokesperson added.

Under a project called ‘Common Tactical Wheeled Vehicle', ATLA awarded a contract worth JPY2.35 billion to MHI in December 2019 to produce prototypes of three new variants – an ICV, a reconnaissance combat vehicle (RCV) equipped with sensors and cameras, and an MMCV – based on the Type 16 MCV.

The JGSDF conducted the operational testing and confirmed that the ICV and MMCV variants meet the service's operational requirements, the spokesperson said.

However, the force is currently conducting trials of the RCV, and the timeline for its mass production has not been decided yet, the spokesperson added.

Janes