US and Japan agree on AMRAAM assembly facility and expanded SM-3 cooperation

Exam-focused facts from the 29 October 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The United States and Japan finalized a plan to establish an Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) final assembly and inspection facility in Japan.
AMRAAM is manufactured by RTX subsidiary Raytheon and can be fired from aircraft and ground-based launchers.
The missile equips F-35 Joint Strike Fighters operated by both countries.
The countries also agreed to share technical information to increase production of the jointly developed Standard Missile-3 Block IIA ballistic-missile interceptor.
Both agreements form part of Operation Supercharge, a joint initiative to expand US-Japan defence technology cooperation.