Japan is considering allocating about 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for next fiscal year’s defense budget, including plans to deploy long-range missiles and drones, sources close to the matter said.
The figure would surpass the record 8.7 trillion yen in the initial budget for the current fiscal year starting April, as Japan faces mounting security challenges from China and North Korea and U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for higher security spending.
The government’s draft initial budget for fiscal 2026, the fourth year of its five-year, 43-trillion-yen defense buildup plan, is expected to be approved by the cabinet led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi later this month, according to the sources.
The defense outlays would include costs to procure hypersonic guided missiles that travel at speeds above Mach 5, five times the speed of sound, and to upgrade medium-range surface-to-air missiles to intercept ballistic missiles, the sources said.
Japan also plans to acquire drones to build the “Shield” layered coastal defense system by deploying numerous inexpensive unmanned aerial, surface and underwater vehicles, the sources added.
Since taking office in October, Takaichi has pledged to bring forward Japan’s goal of raising defense spending and related initiatives to 2 percent of gross domestic product by two years, to fiscal 2025.
The United States, meanwhile, has reportedly pressed Japan behind the scenes to increase its defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP, as China steps up military activity in the Indo-Pacific region and North Korea continues its missile and nuclear development.
Before Japan drafted its five-year defense buildup plan, the annual defense budget had long been capped at around 1 percent of GDP, or roughly 5 trillion yen.