Japan's defense industry is super excited about this amphibious plane

In April 2014 the Japanese government finally lifted its postwar ban on the export of defense products. Tokyo approved its first arms export this summer — the supply of PAC-2 missile parts to the U.S., which will then sell the completed Patriot missiles to Qatar.

It's only a matter of time before Tokyo sells a major military platform rather than just parts. With a wealth of experience in manufacturing armor, ships, submarines and helicopters, there's a lot for potential buyers to choose from. But Japan's first sale will probably be a search-and-rescue amphibious aircraft — a seaplane — called the US-2.

Japan and India have been discussing the sale of the amphibian since 2012. The platform's civilian search-and-rescue role allowed talks to progress even before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government revised the principles governing defense exports.

Read more