According to a report from Nikkei Asia, on June 10th and 11th, the US and Japan will hold the inaugural meeting of the Defense Industry Cooperation, Acquisition, and Safeguards (DICAS) forum. The Deputy Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment from the US Department of Defense and the Director of Japan’s Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA) will participate.
This forum is a tangible step to implement the joint statement of the US-Japan leaders issued on April 10th. During a meeting at the White House, President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reached around 70 cooperation agreements aimed at enhancing the level of defense and security cooperation between the two countries. They stated that “over the past three years, the US-Japan alliance has reached unprecedented heights” and they will work together to advance as “forward-looking global partners.”
The joint statement specifies that in order to use their industrial bases to meet critical capability needs and maintain long-term readiness, a DICAS forum will be convened to identify priority areas for US and Japan industrial cooperation. This includes coordinating with relevant ministries, jointly developing and producing missiles, and jointly maintaining US Navy ships and US Air Force aircraft deployed at Japanese commercial facilities, including fourth-generation fighter jets. This forum, along with the existing Defense Technology Cooperation group, will better integrate and align the defense industry policies, acquisitions, and technology ecosystems of the two countries.
Currently, Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force equipment, such as the “Patriot-2” and “Patriot-3” ground-to-air intercept missiles and their associated trailers and launchers, are produced by Japanese companies like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with US licenses. However, it has been reported by Bloomberg that costs have severely exceeded budgets.
On the other hand, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) report in June 2023, the US’s existing capacity can only produce 450 “Patriot” missiles per year, with 250 of them directly purchased by the military. Additionally, the potential for US military industrial enterprises to increase production is limited to 15-20% annually.
On December 22nd last year, the Japanese government approved new guidelines for the Transfer of Defense Equipment and the Use of Indications, deciding to provide the US with “Patriot” anti-missile systems produced in Japan. This marks the first time since the 2014 Japanese Cabinet decision to approve the Transfer of Defense Equipment guidelines that the export of lethal weapons has been allowed.
For Japan, this DICAS forum, led by the expansion of “Patriot” missile production, will greatly promote the development of Japan’s defense industry and integration with the US’s defense industry, causing concern for the Chinese Communist Party.
Against the backdrop of evolving international situations, Japan is deeply adjusting its weapons export policies. In the 1960s, Japan established the “Three Principles on Arms Exports,” which include not selling weapons to communist countries, countries under UN arms embargoes, or countries involved in or likely to be involved in international conflicts. In 2014, the Abe administration revised these principles to the “Three Principles of Defense Equipment Transfers,” allowing the export of defense equipment under certain conditions. At the end of 2022, the Kishida government passed new security policy documents and committed for the first time to promoting the export of defense equipment. In December 2023 and March 2024, the Kishida government revised the guidelines for the Transfer of Defense Equipment repeatedly.
In addition to exporting Patriot missiles to the US, Japan’s recent significant defense equipment transfers include two other events. Firstly, on December 20th last year, Japan officially delivered a new type of airborne warning radar to the Philippines, marking Japan’s first-ever export of finished military equipment. This radar system has a detection range of 300 nautical miles (approximately 555 kilometers) and is deployed by the Philippines about 300 kilometers from the former US airbase near the Scarborough Shoal, enabling the tracking of Chinese movements. Secondly, on March 26th this year, Japan lifted the ban on the joint development of a new fighter jet with the UK and Italy for exports to third countries.
Japan has considerable military industrial potential. Under the leadership of the United States, the integration of Japanese and American military capabilities is a major nightmare for the Chinese Communist Party.
This DICAS forum is a significant step for the US in implementing the first National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS).
On January 11th, the US military issued an unprecedented National Defense Industrial Strategy. Laura Taylor-Kale, the Assistant Secretary of Defense responsible for industrial policy, stated that the motivation for developing this strategy stems from increased concerns about national security threats posed by challenges from China and Russia. She mentioned that the US’s “arsenal of democracy” had helped win two World Wars and the Cold War. For the foreseeable future, it must continue to provide sustained advantages and support the capability of “integrated deterrence.”
The Russia-Ukraine war exposed at least three major shortcomings for the US. Firstly, Ukraine used up US-made “Javelin” anti-tank missiles produced over 13 years in just the first 10 months of the conflict, depleting US military stockpiles rapidly. Secondly, future major conflicts will be industrial in nature, and the US defense industry is ill-prepared. The US industrial base primarily focuses on meeting peacetime requirements and is unable to rapidly respond to increased demand during wartime. Thirdly, the readiness posture and industrial capacity of the US military are insufficient to address a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
The National Defense Industrial Strategy notes that “over the past 30 years, China has become a global industrial power in many key areas, from shipbuilding to critical minerals to microelectronics, with capacity surpassing not only the US but also the total of its Asian and European allies.” However, the US still manufactures the finest weapons globally but “must be able to produce these capabilities at a sufficient pace and scale to maximize our advantage.”
The strategy emphasizes the critical importance of building a modern defense industrial ecosystem over the next 3-5 years, focusing on four strategic priorities: establishing a flexible supply chain, cultivating skilled and adequate labor forces, achieving agile procurement, and promoting fair and effective market mechanisms to support a robust defense ecosystem between the US and its allies and partners, ensuring economic security and comprehensive deterrence. The report proposes 25 specific actions, one of which is to “strengthen international defense production relationships, cooperate with allies and partners, establish production advantages through various international collaboration mechanisms, expand global defense production, and increase supply chain resilience.”
From this DICAS forum, the US considers Japan a priority cooperation partner.
The defense industry is a crucial component of strategic deterrence. The US has always placed a high priority on defense industry infrastructure and capability development, elevating it to a strategic level essential for national security. The Biden administration’s National Security Strategy and Defense Strategy both prioritize strengthening defense industry infrastructure, aiming to ensure that US troops have the necessary platforms, technology, and protection to establish and maintain overwhelming superiority over adversaries on a global scale.
According to China’s “Made in China 2025” initiative, the US ranks at the top-tier in global manufacturing, with Japan and Germany following in the second tier, while China is leading the third tier. China acknowledges its manufacturing sector is “large but not strong,” with significant gaps. Their goal by 2035 is merely for the manufacturing industry to reach the average level among the world’s manufacturing powers at a middle level, hoping to rival Japan and Germany but not daring to compare with the US.
Currently, the US is engaged in an “extreme strategic competition” with China, heightened by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the potential challenge of a Taiwan Strait conflict. The US is determined to reorganize its defense industry.
On October 19, 2023, President Biden, citing President Roosevelt’s slogan during World War II, stated in the Oval Office that the US is ready to once again become the “arsenal of democracy” supporting the cause of freedom.
From the US National Defense Industrial Strategy to the upgraded US-Japan alliance and now this DICAS forum, it is evident that the US’s preparations are moving forward systematically, strengthening its comprehensive military industrial advantages continuously. This effectively restrains China’s military ambitions (such as initiating a conflict in the Taiwan Strait).
– Epoch Times First Issue