The 4th Japan-U.S. Defense Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition, and Sustainment (DICAS 2.0)

PRESS RELEASE

In Japanese

  • On April 14, 2026, Mr. Hajime Aoyagi, Commissioner of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA), and Mr. Michael Duffey, U.S. Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, held the 4th Japan-U.S. Defense Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition, and Sustainment Plenary (DICAS) at the U.S. Department of War in Washington, DC. Recognizing that the initiatives pursued under DICAS have moved into a concrete implementation phase, at the plenary the two sides concurred on further deepening defense industrial cooperation and to upgrade DICAS into an enhanced “DICAS 2.0.” framework for more robust engagement together.
  • Through the three DICAS Plenaries held to date, both sides have a shared recognition that, under an increasingly severe security environment, strengthening the defense industrial base is an urgent and shared challenge for Japan and the United States in order to produce defense equipment “more rapidly and at a greater scale,” with an emphasis on efficiency. As a direction for solving this challenge, to enhance the readiness and sustainability capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance in the Indo-Pacific region, both sides confirmed the importance of advancing Japan-U.S. defense industrial cooperation as being mutually complimentary to strengthen supply chains, development, production, and sustainment bases. Furthermore, both sides confirmed that this shared understanding aligns with the U.S. Department of War’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy, and at the same time recognized the importance of this strategy being referenced as Japan presents a medium‑ to long‑term perspective on its defense industry going forward.
  • Both sides received progress updates on the Working Groups conducted under DICAS, as outlined below:

    • With regard to the Missile Co‑production Working Group, both sides received updates on a broad range of defense equipment and technology cooperation, including co-development and co-production of missiles, as concurred at the Japan-U.S. Defense Ministerial Meeting in January and the Japan-U.S. Summit Meeting in March of this year. Based on the results of the feasibility study on the AIM‑120 AMRAAM, conducted with the cooperation of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Raytheon, both the U.S. and Japan concurred on identifying the circuit card assembly (CCA) as a part of the scope of co-production and on further discussing the possibility of Final Assembly and Check-Out (FACO) in Japan. Regarding the SM-3 Block IIA missile, the two sides confirmed concrete measures to increase production by approximately four times and at DICAS concurred on assessing the possibility of further acceleration and expansion for the benefit of both countries. With respect to potential opportunities for co‑production of the PAC‑3 MSE, both sides concurred on accelerating consideration of concrete measures that would contribute to improved production efficiency.
    • With regard to the Ship Repair Working Group, both sides commemorated that, in December last year, the repair of the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke‑class Aegis destroyer USS Fitzgerald was conducted in Maizuru City, marking the first case in which a Japanese company repaired a U.S. naval vessel homeported in the U.S. mainland. Both sides concurred on continuing discussions on improving contracting arrangements and enhancing supply‑chain cooperation, with a view to expanding and deepening sustainment of U.S. Navy ships by Japanese companies.
    • With regard to the Aircraft Repair Working Group, both sides concurred on pursuing the manufacturing and repair of F100 and F110 fighter engine components respectively as a pilot case (pathfinder) toward U.S. Air Force certification using the Source Approval Request process (SAR) which is an U.S. military’s certification procedure for defense equipment.
    • With regard to the Supply Chain Resilience Working Group, both sides concurred on further accelerating efforts related to supply‑chain resilience, including cooperation on critical goods and materials and small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS), in order to ensure the stable production of defense equipment.
  • Both sides reaffirmed that DICAS remains a valuable framework to mutually complement and reinforce the Japan-U.S. defense industrial bases, and concurred on further advancing discussions within each Working Group toward the next meeting.
  • On this occasion, both sides also welcomed the outcomes of the 2nd Annual Plenary meeting of the Partnership for Indo‑Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR) [note 1], convened virtually at the National Armaments Director (NAD) level on March 18 [note 2] this year, and confirmed their intention to steadily advance concrete cooperation, particularly with respect to the following key concurred items:

    • With regard to the Production workstream, establishment of a sub‑workstream on cooperation in the production of solid rocket motors and advance discussions between Japan, the United States, and other partners;
    • With regard to the Sustainment workstream, explore feasibility to establish a F100/F110 engine repair hub in Japan;
    • With regard to the Supply Chain Resilience workstream, conduct an industry survey and examine approaches on reciprocal certification standards regarding sUAS battery, etc.;
    • With regard to the Policy and Optimization workstream, conduct annual educational courses through the Multinational Defense Equipment Resilience Seminar, co-hosted by the Asia‑Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), a U.S. Department of War Institute, and rotating PIPIR member countries in order to enhance understanding of defense industrial policies and structures across participating countries.

Notes

  1. The “Partnership for Indo‑Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR)” is a multilateral framework established in 2024 under the leadership of the U.S. Department of War to conduct concrete discussions on challenges related to strengthening defense industrial bases in the Indo‑Pacific region. In addition to plenary meetings attended by NAD‑level officials, PIPIR consists of workstreams on Production, Sustainment, Supply Chain Resilience, and Policy and Optimization.
  2. At the PIPIR Plenary meeting virtually convened on March 18 this year, Mr. Hajime Aoyagi, Commissioner of ATLA participated from Japan, and Mr. Michael Duffey, U.S. Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment participated from the United States.

The 4th Japan-U.S. Defense Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition, and Sustainment (DICAS 2.0) (PDF)