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Japan’s cabinet has backed a record defence spending plan aimed at strengthening missile, drone and maritime capabilities, amid mounting tensions with China.
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, right, chats with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara during a plenary session of the House of Representatives at the National Diet in Tokyo [File: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP]
Japan’s cabinet has approved a record defence budget proposal of more than 9 trillion yen ($58bn) for the coming fiscal year, reflecting a push to strengthen military and coastal defences amid rising tensions in East Asia.
The plan still requires parliamentary approval by March and forms part of a broader 122.3 trillion yen ($784bn) national budget for the fiscal year beginning in April 2026. The increase marks the fourth year of Japan’s five-year effort to increase defence outlays to 2 percent of gross domestic product.
The spending increase comes as Tokyo voices growing concern over China. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that Japan’s military could become involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by Beijing – comments that caused outrage in Beijing, which hit back with diplomatic and economic measures against Japan.
Under the five-year defence build-up plan, Japan is expected to become the world’s third-largest defence spender after the United States and China. The Finance Ministry said Japan is on track to meet the 2 percent target by March. Takaichi’s government has faced pressure from the US to hit that benchmark two years earlier than originally planned. Japan also intends to revise its existing security and defence policies by December 2026 to further enhance its military posture.
In recent years, Japan has moved to strengthen its ability to strike targets at long range, a significant shift away from its post-World War II approach that limited the use of force strictly to self-defence.
The current national security strategy, adopted in 2022, identifies China as Japan’s most serious strategic challenge and calls for a more assertive role for the military within the framework of the country’s alliance with the US.
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington is pictured during the Freedom Edge trilateral exercise among the US, Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea, south of the Korean Peninsula and west of Japan’s main islands [File: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
Under the new budget, more than 970 billion yen ($6.2bn) is earmarked to enhance Japan’s “standoff” missile capabilities. This includes 177 billion yen ($1.13bn) for the purchase of domestically produced and upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles, which have an estimated range of about 1,000km (620 miles).
Citing an ageing and shrinking population and difficulties in maintaining troop numbers, the government has also placed emphasis on unmanned systems. To strengthen coastal defence, Japan plans to spend 100 billion yen ($640m) on deploying “massive” numbers of unmanned aerial, surface and underwater drones for surveillance and defence. The system, known as “SHIELD,” is scheduled to be operational by March 2028, defence officials said.
To speed up deployment, Japan expects to rely initially on imported equipment, potentially sourcing systems from countries such as Turkiye or Israel.
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, right, chats with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara during a plenary session of the House of Representatives at the National Diet in Tokyo [File: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP]
Japan’s cabinet has approved a record defence budget proposal of more than 9 trillion yen ($58bn) for the coming fiscal year, reflecting a push to strengthen military and coastal defences amid rising tensions in East Asia.
The plan still requires parliamentary approval by March and forms part of a broader 122.3 trillion yen ($784bn) national budget for the fiscal year beginning in April 2026. The increase marks the fourth year of Japan’s five-year effort to increase defence outlays to 2 percent of gross domestic product.
The spending increase comes as Tokyo voices growing concern over China. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that Japan’s military could become involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by Beijing – comments that caused outrage in Beijing, which hit back with diplomatic and economic measures against Japan.
Under the five-year defence build-up plan, Japan is expected to become the world’s third-largest defence spender after the United States and China. The Finance Ministry said Japan is on track to meet the 2 percent target by March. Takaichi’s government has faced pressure from the US to hit that benchmark two years earlier than originally planned. Japan also intends to revise its existing security and defence policies by December 2026 to further enhance its military posture.
In recent years, Japan has moved to strengthen its ability to strike targets at long range, a significant shift away from its post-World War II approach that limited the use of force strictly to self-defence.
The current national security strategy, adopted in 2022, identifies China as Japan’s most serious strategic challenge and calls for a more assertive role for the military within the framework of the country’s alliance with the US.
Under the new budget, more than 970 billion yen ($6.2bn) is earmarked to enhance Japan’s “standoff” missile capabilities. This includes 177 billion yen ($1.13bn) for the purchase of domestically produced and upgraded Type-12 surface-to-ship missiles, which have an estimated range of about 1,000km (620 miles).
Citing an ageing and shrinking population and difficulties in maintaining troop numbers, the government has also placed emphasis on unmanned systems. To strengthen coastal defence, Japan plans to spend 100 billion yen ($640m) on deploying “massive” numbers of unmanned aerial, surface and underwater drones for surveillance and defence. The system, known as “SHIELD,” is scheduled to be operational by March 2028, defence officials said.
To speed up deployment, Japan expects to rely initially on imported equipment, potentially sourcing systems from countries such as Turkiye or Israel.
