Following up on the recent agreement between U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to strengthen defense cooperation, the United States and Japan will convene next month the first Forum on Defense, Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition, and Sustainment (DICAS) wherein they will identify the priorities to boost their partnership.
The two-day event will feature discussions between William LaPlante, U.S. undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and Masaki Fukasawa, Commissioner of Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, on how to increase the current co-production capacity of Patriot surface-to-air-missiles and future co-development of common jet trainers.
Currently, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has a licensing agreement with U.S. defense contractor Raytheon to manufacture Patriot missiles. Following the amendment of its defense export guidelines last December, Tokyo is also working on replenishing U.S. stockpiles of these missiles.
On the second day, both sides will launch the Ship Repair Council, a meeting focused on the short-term maintenance of U.S. Navy ships located in Japanese shipyards. Post-Cold War, Japan became a crucial hub for maintaining U.S. Navy ships because many American shipyards had closed and the remaining ones faced huge backlogs in repairs.
Integrating industrial bases with Japan is particularly important for the United States because of supply shortages stemming from its financial and weapon commitments in the Ukraine-Russia war and the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The DICAS meeting is expected to result in an increase in missile production by Japan to support U.S. commitments.
