Japanese military contractors are taking their first steps toward selling weapons abroad since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe relaxed an export ban, a politically sensitive shift for a nation that long hesitated to turn its technology prowess into arms-sales profits.

在日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)放松相关出口禁令之后，日本军事承包商正朝着武器出口迈开第一步。对于长期以来都对将科技能力转化为武器销售利润持犹豫态度的日本来说，放松武器出口禁令是一个政治敏感的转变。

On Thursday, the Ministry of Defense approved exports of a sensor made by Japan's largest military contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., for use in air-defense missiles made by Raytheon Co. of the U.S. The ministry also cleared a Japan-Britain research project involving technology for air-to-air missiles.

日本防卫省(Ministry of Defense)上周四批准日本最大军事承包商三菱重工业株式会社(Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., 简称：三菱重工)出口一款传感器，用于美国雷神(Raytheon Co.)生产的防空导弹。该部门还批准了一个涉及空对空导弹技术的日英联合研究项目。

A week earlier, Mr. Abe and Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia signed an agreement to collaborate on submarine development. Analysts say the deal could give Australia access to a propulsion technology that allows Japanese submarines, built by Mitsubishi Heavy and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., to remain submerged for unusually long periods.

一周之前，安倍晋三和澳大利亚总理阿博特(Tony Abbott)签署了一项协议，将就潜艇研发展开合作。分析师们称，通过这桩交易，澳大利亚将得以获取一项推进技术；三菱重工业和川崎重工业公司(Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.)所生产的日本潜艇就是凭借这项技术才能在水下保持特别长的时间。

'My sense in talking to Japanese defense companies is that there is a great deal of excitement and anticipation about what they can achieve,' said Jon Grevatt, an analyst at IHS Jane's in Bangkok.

IHS Jane驻曼谷的分析师Jon Grevatt称，他与日本防务公司交谈下来的感觉是，这些公司对于未来的可能性非常激动和期待。

But they are being careful not to show that excitement too openly. Along with Mr. Abe's recent move to ease restrictions on the nation's military activities, his decision to permit limited arms exports has angered neighbors like China and South Korea, which see a retreat from Japan's postwar pacifism.

但是，这些公司也很小心地不过于公开地表现出这种激动之情。安倍晋三近期放松日本军事活动限制的举措，以及批准有限的武器出口的决定，触怒了像中国和韩国这样的邻国，这些国家将此视为日本战后和平主义的一大倒退。

What's more, it isn't clear how quickly Japanese companies can learn the intricacies of the international arms trade -- a tough business with no shortage of competition. Weapons manufacturers in countries like South Korea, Turkey and Malaysia are also moving to carve out a bigger share of a business long dominated by U.S., Russian and Western European companies.

此外，现在还不清楚日本企业可以多快明白国际武器贸易的错综复杂；在这个不乏竞争的行业，生意并不那么好做。这个市场长期以来被美国、俄罗斯和西欧的公司主导，而韩国、土耳其、马来西亚等国的武器生产商也正在努力争取更大份额。

'People outside Japan think that Japan is really opening up its defense industry,'' said Yuzo Murayama, a professor and defense expert at Doshisha Business School in Kyoto. 'It's not true. This will take a long time.'

京都Doshisha Business School的教授兼防务专家Yuzo Murayama称，其他国家的人以为日本真的在开放防务行业，但事实并非如此；这将需要很长的时间。

The government says Japanese arms manufacturers need to be able to export in order to lower Japan's high cost of procuring weapons. Because the industry is fragmented and production runs are small, Japan sometimes pays twice or three times as much as other countries' armed forces for comparable weapons, analysts say. And the country has been mostly cut off from international weapons-development joint ventures, which are increasingly used for complex, expensive weapons systems.

政府表示，日本武器制造商需要出口产品，以降低日本采购武器的高昂成本。分析人士称，由于军火行业分散、生产规模小，日本为获得类似的武器，支付的款项有时是其他国家武装力量所付价格的两三倍。此外，日本基本上被排除在国际武器开发合资企业之外，这类合资企业越来越多地被用来开发复杂、昂贵的武器系统。

The largest Japanese arms manufacturer is Mitsubishi Heavy, with $3 billion in military revenue in 2012, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. That is one-twelfth the total of Lockheed Martin Corp. of the U.S. and puts the Japanese company only 29th among military contractors world-wide, according to the institute.

日本最大的武器制造商是三菱重工，据斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所(Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)称，该公司2012年军工收入为30亿美元。据该研究所表示，这一收入数字是美国洛克希德-马丁公司(Lockheed Martin Corp.)的十二分之一，在全球军事承包商中仅排在第29位。

Even under the new policy, Japanese contractors will be restricted from selling to regimes involved in international conflicts and to countries that intend to re-export military hardware. Sales will be subject to government approval on a case-by-case basis, and much will depend on Japanese public opinion, which polls have shown to be skeptical about the changes.

即便按照新的政策，日本承包商仍不得向卷入国际冲突的政权出售武器，也不得向意图转口军事装备的国家出售武器。武器出售的交易需要逐个获得政府的批准，并在很大程度上取决于日本的公众舆论。民调显示，日本公众对政策调整持怀疑态度。

Satoshi Tsuzukibashi, director of the office of the defense-production committee of Keidanren, the Japanese business lobby, compared the tentative steps abroad to the dawn of the Meiji era in 1868, when Japan turned its back on centuries of isolation. 'The current situation is a little bit like that,' he said.

日本商业游说团体日本经济团体联合会(Keidanren)防务生产委员会办公室主任Satoshi Tsuzukibashi将放松武器出口禁令的初步举措比作1868年的明治(Meiji)时代初期，当时日本打破了数百年的孤立隔绝状态。他说，眼下的情况有点像那个时候。

In June, more than a dozen Japanese companies with military contracting arms, including Mitsubishi Heavy, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Toshiba Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp., hung out their shingles at a security trade fair in Paris. At the Farnborough International Airshow in Britain last week, Japanese aerospace companies discreetly displayed promotional material for military aircraft like Kawasaki Heavy Industries' P1 maritime patrol plane alongside their latest civilian technologies.

6月份，10多家拥有军工承包业务的日本企业参加了巴黎举行的一个安全商品交易会，其中包括三菱重工、三菱电机(Mitsubishi Electric Corp.)、东芝(Toshiba Corp.)、富士通(Fujitsu Ltd.)、日立(Hitachi Ltd.)和日本电气公司(NEC Corp.)。在上周英国举行的法恩伯勒国际航空展(Farnborough International Airshow)上，日本航空企业在展示其最新民用技术的同时，还谨慎地展示了川崎重工生产的P1海上巡逻机等军用飞机的宣传材料。

'We are seeking the possibility to expand our business,'' said Takumi Kobayashi, a Kawasaki manager. 'The export of defense, it is just the beginning. We are seeing how it will go.'

川崎重工业的经理Takumi Kobayashi称，该公司正寻求扩张业务的可能性。防务产品出口才刚开始，公司将关注其发展情况。

Mr. Tsuzukibashi said he expected Japan's military exports to remain well below $1 billion a year for many years to come. By contrast, France and Britain, whose military spending is roughly equal to Japan's, exported an average of $10.8 billion and $8.7 billion of weapons a year, respectively, from 2006 through 2011, according to a French government report.

Tsuzukibashi表示，他预计未来数年日本每年的军品出口货值都将低于10亿美元。而法国一份政府报告显示，法国和英国的军费支出与日本相当，但2006-2011年期间的年均武器出口额分别达到108亿美元和87亿美元。

Under the export deal that the government approved Thursday, Mitsubishi Heavy will be permitted to supply sensors to Raytheon for Patriot Advanced Capability-2 missiles destined for Qatar. The PAC-2 is an older version of the Patriot system, so the sensor is no longer produced in the U.S., officials said.

根据日本政府周四批准的出口协议，三菱重工将获准向雷神提供传感器，用于生产将供应给卡塔尔的爱国者2型导弹。官员们称，爱国者2型导弹是爱国者系列中较旧版本的导弹，因此美国已经不再生产与之相匹配的传感器。

Mr. Tsuzukibashi said other potential exports include the C-2 transport aircraft, made by Kawasaki Heavy, and the US-2 seaplane, produced by ShinMaywa Industries Ltd. Japan has been talking to India for several years about the US-2, which can be used for civilian maritime-rescue operations as well as military functions. But analysts say the high cost of the plane, about $100 million, has been a barrier, and the countries haven't reached a definitive agreement.

Tsuzukibashi表示，其他潜在的出口军品包括川崎重工业生产的C-2运输机，新明和工业(ShinMaywa Industries Ltd.)生产的US-2水上飞机。近几年日本一直在与印度讨论US-2的问题，这款水上飞机既可用于民间海上救援行动，也可用做军事用途。但分析师们表示，这款飞机的成本高达约1亿美元，一直是达成交易的障碍；两国尚未达成最终协议。

Because of the high prices and political sensitivities surrounding overseas sales of complete weapons systems, analysts say it is more likely that Japanese military contractors will focus their export efforts on parts, including sensors and advanced building materials like carbon fiber.

分析师们称，由于完整武器系统的海外销售价格高昂且存在政治敏感性，日本军火代工企业更有可能将出口的重点放在零部件上，包括传感器和碳素纤维等先进建筑材料。

'On nonlethal equipment, the market is a bit more open,' said Siemon Wezeman, senior researcher at the Stockholm institute. 'Japan will have to develop a structured policy on what is allowed and where. They still have to invent that wheel.'

斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所高级研究员Siemon Wezeman表示，在非杀伤性武器方面，市场略微开放一些。日本需要就允许出口的产品和目的地方面制定结构性政策。在这方面日本还需要从头开始。