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SHIELD and 2026 budget
Japan’s 2026 Defense White Paper says a “significant number of low-cost unmanned systems” are used for reconnaissance and attacks, while “artificial intelligence analyzes the collected information to accelerate decision-making by commanders.”
“artificial intelligence analyzes the collected information to accelerate decision-making by commanders”
In response, Japan allocated 100.1 billion yen (approximately $685 million – Ed.) in the 2026 budget for the creation of the SHIELD multi-layered coastal defense system, with implementation scheduled for 2027.
The plan calls for integrating tens of thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as surface and underwater vessels, and includes procurement of FPV drones for reconnaissance and three types of small strike drones for short-, medium-, and long-range attacks “up to 100 km.”
The same White Paper approach also includes naval drones for attacking enemy ships, unmanned surface vessels with ramming capability, and unmanned underwater vehicles for reconnaissance.
The LIGA.net report links the shift to lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war and notes that on April 21 Japan lifted the ban on the export of lethal weapons.
Defense spending as growth
Japan’s new Defense White Paper, as described by Latest news from Azerbaijan, frames military expansion as an investment in technology, industry, employment, and the country’s long-term competitiveness rather than only as a response to external threats.
The report says the document identifies China as the main external factor driving the transformation, describing Chinese military activity as the “greatest strategic challenge facing Japan.”
It also describes how wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have shown that relatively inexpensive drones can destroy costly military equipment, strike critical infrastructure, and overwhelm conventional air defense systems.
The same source says Tokyo expects to integrate aerial, maritime and underwater platforms into a unified architecture for the defense of Japan’s islands and coastline, with the SHIELD project receiving approximately 100.1 billion yen in Japan’s 2026 budget.
Latest news from Azerbaijan adds that overall spending on unmanned defense capabilities is expected to reach around 277.3 billion yen, while artificial intelligence is expected to be used for target recognition, intelligence analysis, command and control, logistics, cybersecurity and drone operations.
Autonomous vehicles and field trials
Vietnam.vn reports that Japan’s white paper emphasizes the priority given to the development of national drone systems combined with long-range missile technology for maritime defense.
“total self-sufficiency in drone manufacturing in Japan remains fraught with challenges”
To speed up research, Tokyo selected four drone manufacturers to prepare field tests with the navy in early August, and the report says Toshiba Corporation announced a collaboration with Pro Drone for the research and development of new drone models.
Vietnam.vn links the push for automated devices to the expectation that it will offset the labor shortage caused by Japan’s demographic decline.
The report also quotes experts’ concerns that “total self-sufficiency in drone manufacturing in Japan remains fraught with challenges,” because the current Japanese commercial market is heavily dependent on imports.
In a parallel Vietnam.vn item, the same framing is repeated that Tokyo selected four drone manufacturers for field trials with the Navy in early August and that achieving full self-sufficiency still faces major challenges due to reliance on imported supplies.