Japan Proposes Record Defense Budget to Improve Unmanned Systems and Standoff Weapons
Japan’s defense budget request indicates that they realize the future of warfare is unmanned systems:
Japan’s Ministry of Defense on Friday unveiled a record-high defense spending request of $60.1 billion for fiscal 2026, citing what it called severe and continuing security threats from China and North Korea. The proposal, which would mark Japan’s 14th consecutive annual increase in defense spending, is about $1 billion higher than the current fiscal year’s $59.1 billion budget. (…….)
The budget emphasizes standoff defense, unmanned systems and cross-domain operations to counter increasingly diverse, complex and advanced threats, according to the Defense Ministry document. About $874.8 million is earmarked for unmanned aircraft and unmanned surface and underwater vessels as part of the ministry’s Synchronized, Hybrid, Integrated and Enhanced Littoral Defense program, or SHIELD, set to launch by the end of fiscal 2027. (……)
The ministry also seeks about $7 billion for standoff defense capabilities, including $207.3 million to begin mass production of hypersonic weapons, which travel at speeds above Mach 5 and are difficult to intercept.
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