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Japan may cooperate with Türkiye on its $640 million coastal defense program as Tokyo seeks to rapidly deploy unmanned systems under a record defense budget, Japanese government officials said Friday.
The Japanese Cabinet approved a record defense budget exceeding 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for fiscal year 2026, up 9.4% from the previous year, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to accelerate the country's military upgrade amid worsening relations with China.
"This budget is the least we need to fulfill our defense responsibilities as Japan faces its most severe and complex security environment since the end of the war," Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said at a news conference.
Japan will spend 100 billion yen ($640 million) to deploy "massive" unmanned air, sea-surface and underwater drones for surveillance and defense under a system called Synchronised, Hybrid, Integrated and Enhanced Littoral Defense (SHIELD), planned for completion by March 2028, defense ministry officials said.
For speedier deployment, Japan initially plans to rely mainly on imports, possibly from Türkiye or Israel, according to the reports.
Japan has been shedding its strict pacifist stance in recent years, moving to obtain "counterstrike" capabilities and doubling military spending to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The budget increase comes as Japan faces elevated tension from China. Prime Minister Takaichi said in November that her country's military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of its territory.
Takaichi's government, under U.S. pressure for a military increase, pledged to achieve the 2% target by March, two years earlier than planned. Japan also plans to revise its security and defense policy by December 2026 to further strengthen its military.
The new budget plan allocates more than 970 billion yen ($6.2 billion) to bolster Japan's "standoff" missile capability.
This includes a 177 billion yen purchase of domestically developed and upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles with a range of about 1,000 kilometers.
The first batch of the Type-12 missiles will be deployed in Japan's southwestern Kumamoto prefecture by March, a year earlier than planned, as Japan accelerates its missile buildup in the region.
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In part due to Japan's aging and declining population and its struggles with an understaffed military, the government believes unmanned weapons are essential.
Under the new budget, Japan aims to strengthen the defense of its southwestern islands and enhance its "standoff" capability with long-range cruise missiles and unmanned air, sea and underwater vehicles.
The defense budget requires parliamentary approval by March 2026 to take effect.
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