Japan and Australia to strengthen defence R&D ties

The Governments of Australian and Japan have agreed, among other things, to strengthen their defence technology relationship following the the Tenth Japan-Australia 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations on 9 December 2022 in Tokyo.

The consultations, between the two countries’ Defence and Foreign Ministers, resulted in a Joint Statement and Japan-Australia Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation (JDSC).

“Recognising our shared views on the changing regional and global environment, expressed by our leaders’ Joint Statement in October 2022, we today focused on expanding and deepening bilateral cooperation in line with the JDSC,” the statement says in part.

Japan and Australia committed to elevating defence equipment, science and technology and industry cooperation in various ways, including to:

• finalise research, development, test and evaluation arrangement to conduct defence science and technology cooperation more smoothly
• enhance defence science and technology collaboration in autonomous systems across all domains
• explore opportunities for joint research, co-development and production of advanced defence capabilities
• support policy dialogues on resilient supply chains, which is a shared challenge for Japan and Australia
• dispatch an Australian defence industry trade mission to Japan in 2023 to build industry resilience and cooperation
• continuing close cooperation to strengthen economic security and address economic coercion, including through the interagency communication and other initiatives with like-minded partners

The two governments also committed to continued communication and cooperation on cyber-security and cyber resilience, including:

• enhancing cooperation including through the next Japan-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue
• supporting cyber capacity uplift in the Indo-Pacific through joint learning and coordination
• cooperation in the multilateral area
• working with partners in the Indo-Pacific on defence-related cyber security
• enhanced defence cyber cooperation through joint participation in NATO Exercise Locked Shields in 2023
• enhancing space cooperation following Japan-Australia Letter of Intent concerning a defence space partnershipsigned in November 2022

Exact details on how these measures will be enacted will follow.