U.S and Japan to launch new defense research and development agreement

FILE PHOTO: The U.S. and Japan flags fly together outside the White House in Washington April 27, 2015. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Japan will sign a new research and development agreement to make it easier to collaborate on countering new defense threats, including hypersonics and space-based capabilities, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

Blinken also told the opening of a virtual meeting between the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the United States that they would sign a new five-year agreement covering the continued basing of U.S. troops in Japan that would invest greater resources to deepen military readiness and interoperability.