（Press Release）
March 16, 2023
Ministry of Defense
Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting
On March 16, 2023, Minister HAMADA held a Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo with the Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP, Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and H.E. Mr. Guido Crosetto, Minister of Defence of the Italian Republic.
- Japanese Defense Minister Hamada welcomed the visit to Japan by Secretary Wallace and Minister Crosetto and the hosting of the Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Japan. He also mentioned the trilateral joint leaders’ statement on the joint development of the next-generation fighter aircraft which was released last December, and stated that this programme will lay a foundation for a wider collaboration with both the UK and Italy over many generations and greatly contribute to enhance global security. Secretary Wallace and Minister Crosetto then expressed that the security of Europe and Asia is inseparable, and affirmed that the Indo-pacific region is also critical for the UK and Italy. In addition, the two Ministers stated that Japan is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific and they placed emphasis on the cooperation with Japan.
- Furthermore, Japanese Defense Minister Hamada stated that this joint development programme of the next-generation fighter aircraft is significant in a way that it brings togather technological advantages of the three countries to develop the state-of-the-art fighter, and therefore nurture cutting-edge technology and next generation of highly skilled experts, and expressed his strong resolve to the success of this programme. Secretary Wallace and Minister Crosetto also expressed their commitments towards the success of this programme and their unswerving willingness to overcome any challenges through unified trilateral collaboration.
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The three Ministers also invited the representatives from their industry partners of this programme, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, BAE Systems and Leonardo, to exchange views and confirmed to unite government and industries to work as one team in order to achieve the joint development of the next-generation fighter aircraft by 2035.
Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting(PDF)