Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, and Japanese Minister of Defense Hamada Yasukazu convened a Trilateral Defense Ministers Meeting (TDMM) in Hawaii on October 1. The defense leaders met to review progress on a wide range of concrete initiatives discussed at the last TDMM held in Singapore in June.
During the meeting, the ministers exchanged views on the regional security environment, and discussed deepening trilateral defense cooperation on enhanced information sharing, exercises, and science and technology initiatives. With the second TDMM of 2022 having reaffirmed strategic alignment among the three leaders, the ministers committed to taking concrete, practical steps together in order to anchor stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.