The Defense Ministry has decided to suspend Kawasaki Heavy Industries from bidding on its projects for 2? months until March 11, citing data falsifications on submarine engines.
According to the ministry, Kawasaki Heavy falsified data on the fuel efficiency of submarine engines it manufactured between 1988 and 2021 for the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
All 24 submarines currently held by the MSDF are equipped with Kawasaki Heavy engines, and 23 of them, excluding the one delivered most recently, have engines affected by the data falsifications, the ministry announced Friday.
The company is said to have manipulated data to meet the ministry¡¯s requirements in the trial of assembled engines.
The ministry said that the data falsifications did not affect the safety or performance of MSDF submarines.
The suspension period was reduced by 2? months after the company voluntarily reported the falsifications.
In August 2024, falsifications of fuel efficiency data for engines for private-sector ships were found at the company. The ministry then inspected the company¡¯s Kobe plant in Hyogo Prefecture.
In June this year, a special investigation commission of external lawyers found possible similar data falsifications for engines for MSDF submarines. The company reported this to the ministry in August.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.