A U.S.-led defense industry partnership has agreed to launch a new missile engine production program with Japan, advance drone cooperation efforts across Asia, and consider building a new ammunition production line in the Philippines, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The Pacific-Indo resilience industrial partnership, known as PIPIR, is a group of countries working together to strengthen their weapons and defense production capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States established it in May 2024 to reduce supply chain risks and help allies produce and maintain military equipment closer to where they are likely to be used.
The Pentagon issued a joint statement following a virtual meeting on Wednesday, during which the group welcomed two new members, Thailand and the United Kingdom, bringing the total number of members to 16 countries covering both the Indo-Pacific region and Europe.
The group announced that they had agreed to establish a new solid rocket motor production program – propulsion systems used in many guided weapons – under Japan’s leadership. This initiative is seen as a way to increase production capacity outside the United States for a component of weapons.
Regarding drones, members agreed on a series of measures to develop common standards and shared supply chains for small military drones in the region, including work on batteries and small engines that power them. The group also agreed to explore the possibility of jointly building drones for a range of military uses.
As for ammunition, members indicated that they would explore the possibility for the Philippines to host a new facility for loading, assembling, and packaging 30mm cannon shells, a type of ammunition widely used by military aircraft and ground vehicles.
