Japan Security Watch has noted that the Japanese government is saying exorbitant prices for its small arms compared to what the US Government and US consumers pay.

A Japanese Self Defense Force SIG 220.

They buy SIG 220 pistols for almost $1,992 each. An M9 Pistol costs the DoD less than $500 including spare parts. The National Park Service valued the SIG P220 they were given by other federal agencies at around $450 each.

The Japanese government buys Type 89 rifles for $2796 each. The more modern M4 Carbine costs the US government $673 each.

Machine guns, sniper rifles and mortars are also said to be purchased for exorbitant prices, but these are hard to evaluate. I would expect a heavy machine gun to be purchased with a number of accessories and a lot of expensive spare parts. Sniper rifles are often sold as complete systems (scopes, night vision, suppressors, rails, mounts, bipods, cases etc.). When heavy weapons are purchased, a supply of ordnance is often purchased at the same time and these numbers could have been listed together in the budget.

[ Many thanks to Albi for emailing us the link. ]