Tokyo's 598-page annual defense paper names drones and AI as the warfare Japan must adapt to, and routes the buildup through startups and dual-use suppliers rather than its incumbent primes.
Tokyo is weighing a US firm's software for the core of how its commanders read the battlefield, a first for the Self-Defense Forces that also opens a fight over who controls Japan's military data.
Beijing doubled its export-control blacklist of Japanese defense and dual-use firms to 80 entities on June 29, weaponizing the rare-earth and component supply chain the drone age runs on, with Tokyo's own unmanned-systems makers among the first cut off.
Japan's counterstrike missile — the upgraded Type 12 stretches a once-coastal anti-ship weapon to ~1,000 km, adds stealth shaping, terrain-following and evasive maneuvers, and can hit ships or land targets from ground launchers, ships and aircraft. The spearhead of Tokyo's new strike posture.
Japan's stealth frigate — and its first big arms export — the Mogami-class packs firepower, mine warfare and unmanned systems into a low-signature hull run by a small, automated crew. In 2025 Australia picked the upgraded version over Germany's — Japan's first major overseas defence contract.
Ukrainian drone makers are pitching Japan and Taiwan their combat-proven systems, turning four years of war with Russia into an export-and-deterrence play aimed at China.