Japan Seeks Record Defense Budget to Deter China

Japan's Defense Ministry is asking for a record 8.9 trillion yen — about $55.6 billion — to arm itself with attack drones, long-range missiles and artificial intelligence as it braces for a more aggressive China.

The ministry disclosed the details of its request for the coming fiscal year on Monday, according to The Independent.

It is part of a wider spending surge: Reuters, citing Nikkei, reported that Japan's total fiscal 2027 budget requests have swollen to a record — Reuters put the figure at $896 billion — under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's growth plans.

The Wall Street Journal reported that even so, the pace of Japan's increases "might look slow to Washington."

What Japan Wants to Buy

The preliminary 8.9 trillion yen total is only a small increase from the 8.8 trillion yen ($55 billion) requested for the current fiscal year, and officials say it will climb once Takaichi's government approves a new security and defense strategy later this year.

The ministry says it wants to "drastically strengthen its deterrence and response capability" by adapting to new forms of warfare, pointing to Ukraine's use of drones.

For the fiscal year beginning in April 2027, it is requesting an unspecified sum to buy unmanned attack drones that can be launched from the air or from under water, to be paired with long-range cruise missiles for cheaper counterstrikes.

It also wants to develop hypersonic missiles launched from submarines, and it has already fortified Japan's southwestern islands with longer-range missiles and interceptors.

On the software side, the ministry plans an integrated AI platform for command and control — including assessing battlefields and choosing targets — plus a next-generation "AI orchestrator" to run multiple AI systems, and a "Defense Ministry cloud" for sensitive data and emergency communications. It did not specify what any of that will cost.

Officials say uncrewed weapons could also offset a shrinking pool of military recruits as Japan's population ages. Experts told The Independent that building fully homemade drones will be hard, because Japan's commercial drone market is dominated by Chinese imports.