Japanese-US talks target missile defence co-operation

Japan and the United States have tentatively agreed to expand co-operation in the missile defence field, the Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Jane's on 29 October.

Although details have not been mapped out, an MoD spokesman said its scope is not expected to include Japan allowing the export of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA, which is currently being jointly developed by the two countries.

In meetings between Japanese Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, which concluded on 21 October, both sides said they wanted to further co-operation in jointly developing missile defence systems.

The spokesman did not deny local news reports that Gates had requested Japan to expand this co-operation into exploring the potential for exporting the SM-3 Block IIA.