The Cabinet gave its final endorsement Friday to initiate joint technical research for a U.S-proposed ballistic missile program, Defense Agency chief Hosei Norota said.

The green light paves the way for an exchange of diplomatic notes between Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and U.S. Ambassador Thomas Foley, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Defense Agency and the Pentagon detailing the contents of the research, Defense Agency officials said.

The joint research aims to develop a missile called the Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile, or LEAP, to be used in the Navy Theater-Wide Defense system, a sea-based portion of the U.S. ballistic missile defense program, which is aimed at protecting the U.S. and its allies from incoming missiles within a 4,800-km radius by shooting them down with counter missiles.

The memorandum will cover the two nations' cooperation on studies regarding the feasibility of developing nose cones, kinetic warheads and second-stage rockets as well as the production of prototypes of infrared sensors.

Defense Agency officials said the memorandum will cover joint research over the first half of the five- or six-year period, costing as much as 30 billion yen.

Tokyo decided to join the U.S. program in December, after North Korea test-fired a three-stage projectile over Japan last August.

The government maintains, however, that it will decide whether to proceed beyond the research stage after studying the technological feasibility of the program.