U.S. and Japanese officials held their first talks under a new framework to deepen defense-industry cooperation, taking the security relationship to new heights as an ally partner in repairing U.S. warships and aircraft in Japan and jointly developing and producing advanced weapons.
The two days of talks that ended Monday marked the opening meeting of the Defense Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition and Sustainment (DICAS) forum, a newly established mechanism to identify areas for closer industrial cooperation following Tokyo’s review of its strict defense export guidelines in March.
A key focus of DICAS – an evolutionary reorganization of the US-Japan Systems and Technology Forum – will be integrating the allies’ defense industrial bases to enable the co-development and co-production of missiles and other military assets .
