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2h ago

Japan Seeks Record ¥8.8 Trillion Defense Budget, Tripling Drone Spend for SHIELD

The proposal now heads to finance-ministry review before negotiations over a record-high central budget.

Picture by たもたん / Twitter user @tamotaro
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Japan in recent years has been shedding its strict pacifist stance, moving to obtain 'counterstrike' capabilities and doubling military spending to two percent of GDP
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Overview

  • Japan’s defense ministry filed a request for ¥8.8 trillion for the fiscal year starting April 1, surpassing the current record.
  • The plan would roughly triple spending on unmanned vehicles to ¥313 billion to expand drone capabilities across missions.
  • Drones are slated to anchor a new coastal-defense architecture called SHIELD, envisioned to thwart near-shore incursions if standoff missiles are bypassed.
  • Officials cite a “severely intensifying security environment” around Japan as the driver for the expanded outlays.
  • The request enters Finance Ministry vetting as media report the total government budget could exceed ¥122 trillion, with Tokyo also exploring Turkish drone purchases alongside closer U.S. coordination.