U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel called the East Asian country’s engineering, industrial and manufacturing capacity “a major significant development” for the U.S. defense industry, while admitting that “the U.S. military-industrial base cannot meet all the security challenges”.
The U.S. is currently facing a shortage of ammunition, which is largely attributed to its support for Ukraine and Israel, and is also grappling with the challenge of augmenting its Patriot missile production capacity.
The Patriot, a surface-to-air guided missile system, is manufactured by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries under license from U.S. defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies. In December, the Japanese government confirmed that it would send Patriot missiles to the U.S. after amending its arms export rules.
Japanese and U.S. defense officials deliberated for the first time in Tokyo at the Defense Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition and Sustainment Forum, which was established based on an agreement reached between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden during their meeting in April.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 