The US and Japan have agreed to build a plant in Japan for the final assembly and inspection of advanced medium-range AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. The project is part of the joint initiative “Supercharge” and is aimed at providing missiles for the F-35 fighters, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi announced.
Koizumi announced the agreement after a meeting with his American counterpart Pete Hegseth in Cebu, Philippines. The conversation took place on the sidelines of the expanded meeting of ASEAN defense ministers and their Asian and Western partners.
Missiles for F-35 fighters
AMRAAM is an abbreviation for Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile - an advanced medium-range air-to-air missile. According to Koizumi, these missiles are essential for the F-35 fighter jets, which are also used by the Japanese armed forces.
“We share the sense of crisis in connection with the increasingly serious situation in the region, and we have agreed to strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-US alliance with greater speed and intensity than ever“, Koizumi said.
He added that the two sides have reaffirmed the importance of a free and open international order based on the rule of law. According to him, this order must reject attempts to unilaterally change the status quo through force, coercion or other means.
Tokyo is monitoring China's activity
The announcement about the missile factory comes amid increased attention in Tokyo to China's naval activity in the area of southwestern Japan. Koizumi said three Chinese destroyers and a coast guard ship had passed together through the Osumi Strait, south of Kyushu island, and headed east toward the Pacific Ocean.
He described the movement as the first such configuration of the Chinese navy seen by the Japanese ministry. Koizumi said he cited the incident as an “example illustrating the challenging security environment in the region“.
Japan is accelerating the strengthening of its military capabilities in the southwest of the country, as the United States and its allies deepen defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Hegseth, for his part, confirmed to the ASEAN defense ministers Washington's commitment to contribute to deterring aggression, without naming China.
The exact location and cost of the facility, the deadline for its construction, or the planned production capacity have not yet been announced. The next steps in the project will determine when actual production of the missiles in Japan will begin.
Sources: bta.bg, apnews.com, latimes.com