Japan unveils new assault rifle, amid rising tensions in East China Sea
- The Type 20 assault rifle will replace its predecessor, the Type 1989 weapon, introduced 31 years ago
- Its launch comes as tensions are rising in the waters of the East China Sea surrounding the disputed islands
Garren Mulloy, a professor of international relations at Japan’s Daito Bunka University and an authority on defence issues, said while there were suggestions the rifle had been designed solely for a single geographical location, it was likely to have been tested in multiple battlefield scenarios.
“The obvious assumption is that Japan is planning to carry out a lot more amphibious operations,” Mulloy said. “But if you talk to professional soldiers, you will see that dust or other contaminants in the mechanism of a weapon is a constant problem, and I think the Japanese have designed a weapon that will have better tolerances than its predecessor in all conditions.”
According to the Defence Ministry, the new Type 20 assault rifle, named as it will be deployed in fiscal 2020, will replace the Type 1989 weapon, introduced 31 years ago, although only in limited numbers. That has meant that many SDF troops have been relying on a rifle that was first put into service as far back as 1964.
“This weapon will have been proofed in the snow in Hokkaido, the humidity of Okinawa and they will have taken them to desert environments in the United States to make sure that they operate as they are meant to in any given situation,” Mulloy said.
Mulloy noted, however, that tensions were once more rising in the waters of the East China Sea surrounding the disputed Diaoyu Islands.