(Press Release)
November 12, 2026
Ministry of Defense Japan
On November 11, 2026, commencing at 17:40 for approximately thirty-five minutes, Defense Minister Koizumi virtually attended the Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting via teleconference, with the Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and H.E. Mr. Guido Crosetto, Minister of Defense of the Italian Republic. At this meeting, the three Ministers discussed the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a trilateral collaboration to jointly develop the next-generation fighter aircraft.
The GCAP brings together the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic located far in the distance from each other. This one-of-a-kind project serves as the basis for connectivity between the two regions and will be a long-lasting foundation for close trilateral ties among people, collaboration in technology, as well as cooperation among industries in the decades to come. The three Ministers confirmed their commitment to further trilateral cooperation to deepen GCAP.