Military aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) is essential for ensuring the operational readiness, longevity, and technological superiority of defense fleets. MRO closer to the future fight offers a solution to the increasingly contested logistics that warfighters will face. Japan offers an operating location in the Indo-Pacific which can enhance rapid-response capabilities and logistical efficiency for U.S. and allied forces. Strengthening U.S.-Japan MRO collaboration and engaging Japanese industry to perform MRO on U.S. aircraft has the potential to improve fleet availability and reduce maintenance turnaround time, ensuring a more robust and resilient force.
On March 13, 2025, the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group (DIIG) and the Japan Chair at CSIS will host Mr. FUKAWA Hideki, Councilor for the Defense Equipment Cooperation Division at Japan's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) and Lt. Gen. Leonard J. Kosinski (USAF, Ret.), former Director for Logistics with the Pentagon's Joint Staff, for a keynote discussion on the strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific and the potential for closer U.S.-Japan defense industrial cooperation, specifically on MRO for U.S. Air Force aircraft. Lt. Gen. Stacey T. Hawkins, Commander of the United States Air Force Sustainment Center, will offer welcoming remarks, remotely from Tinker Air Force Base.
The keynote discussion will be followed by an industry panel which will highlight the barriers and opportunities for U.S. and Japanese industry in providing the U.S. Air Force with greater MRO capabilities and increased Indo-Pacific regional capacity. The industry panel will feature Mr. KOBAYASHI Hajime, Deputy Division Director, Defense System Division, IHI; Mr. SHIRAI Koji, Manager, Airframe & Flight Systems Design Section, MHI; Mr. Nick Gross, Senior Vice President, Integrated Solutions, AAR; and Mr. Chris Haave, Vice President, Enterprise Technology Release, Global Government Relations, RTX.
This event is made possible by support from the Japanese Ministry of Defense.
