The Philippines may host a new ammunition production facility under a growing US-led defense manufacturing coalition that also agreed to launch a missile propulsion program with Japan and advance drone cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region.
The announcements came out of a virtual meeting held Wednesday by the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience, or PIPIR — a 16-nation group established by Washington in May 2024 to strengthen weapons manufacturing capacity and reduce supply chain vulnerabilities among allied nations in the region.
On the ammunition front, PIPIR members said they would look into setting up a facility in the Philippines to load, assemble, and package 30mm cannon rounds, a type of ammunition standard to military aircraft and ground vehicles.
Japan will lead a newly agreed program to produce solid rocket motors — the propulsion systems that power many guided weapons. The initiative is aimed at building up manufacturing capacity for a critical weapons component outside the United States.
Drone cooperation was also on the agenda. Members committed to developing shared standards and common supply chains for small military drones, covering components including batteries and motors. The group additionally agreed to explore joint drone production across multiple military applications.
The Pentagon released a joint statement Friday confirming the outcomes of the meeting, which also welcomed Thailand and the United Kingdom as new PIPIR members, expanding the coalition to 16 countries across both the Indo-Pacific and Europe.
