Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer signed the agreement in Tokyo. That means breakneck cooperation on the hugely ambitious joint development programs will begin this fiscal year.

Aso and Schieffer also a signed a second agreement linked to the BMD one in which Japan reaffirmed its policy to exempt arms exports to the United States related to the joint missile defense project from its weapons export ban, the Kyodo News Agency reported.

Based on an annexed document to the main BMD agreement, the United States will be in charge of the development of kinetic warhead, while Japan will be responsible for the nose cone and rocket motor, and the two sides will jointly take on the work of system design and test-firing, Kyodo said.

The annex also stipulated that over the next nine years, Japan will pay for half the development cost of the program, which is expected to exceed $2.7 billion, Kyodo said.

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