On October 28th, Japanese Defense Minister Yukio Shirakawa held talks with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis in the Philippines. Both sides agreed to build a new final assembly facility in Japan for the 'AMRAAM' advanced medium-range air-to-air missile used by F-35 fighter jets. Japan and the US will work together to enhance missile production capabilities.
The two parties held a conversation that lasted about 30 minutes. Previously, both Japan and the United States had reached a consensus on accelerating joint missile production. This meeting also confirmed that in order to expand the production of SM-3 Block IIA missiles, which are used to intercept ballistic missiles, the two parties will share relevant technical information.
According to the Japanese side, regarding the scale of Japan's new defense expenditures, Hagersey did not propose any specific requests to increase military spending. The Japanese Defense Ministry explained that “the exchange between both sides did not take any specific amount or conclusion as a premise.”
