Overview
- Cabinet officials set fiscal 2026 defense spending at ¥9.04 trillion, a 9.4% increase and the fourth year of the buildup that the Finance Ministry says will reach the 2% of GDP target by March.
- Key allocations include more than ¥970 billion for standoff capabilities, ¥177 billion for upgraded Type‑12 missiles with initial deployment by March in Kumamoto, about ¥100 billion for the SHIELD unmanned coastal network slated for March 2028, and ¥30.1 billion for hypersonic missiles.
- Japan will put roughly ¥160 billion into a next‑generation fighter with Britain and Italy, rely initially on imported drones, invest nearly ¥10 billion to bolster its defense industrial base, and rename the Air Self‑Defense Force to the Air and Space Self‑Defense Force.
- Rising security friction includes Chinese carrier drills and reported radar locks on Japanese aircraft near the southwest islands, prompting protests, and Tokyo plans a new office to study China’s expanding Pacific operations.
- Beijing has denounced reported nuclear‑armament remarks by a Japanese adviser as remilitarization, as Tokyo reaffirms non‑nuclear principles; the defense plan sits within a ¥122.3 trillion draft national budget funded partly by future tax hikes and higher bond issuance.