Almost double the current funds, in the field of US drones and weapons
Japan accelerates its rearmament and increasingly aligns itself with Washington’s recommendations.
According to sources familiar with the dossier cited by the Japan Times, the government led by conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is evaluating a defense spending plan of almost $500 billion over five years, which would almost double investments compared to the current programming and strengthen the country’s military capabilities.
If adopted, the program would involve spending between 70,000 billion and 80,000 billion yen, or up to 508 billion dollars, compared to the 43,000 billion yen allocated under the current five-year plan starting in fiscal 2023. The figure could change, however: the government is finalizing the budget with a view to the end of the year and will review the three strategic documents on security matters.
According to the sources, the new funds are expected to finance purchases such as large quantities of drones. With the current program, formulated at the end of 2022, Tokyo had already significantly increased its planned spending from the initial 27,500 billion yen, focusing on long-range missiles for counterattack capabilities, ammunition and spare parts for military equipment.
The Japanese leader aims to strengthen the Tokyo-Washington axis in an increasingly tense regional context, signaling a renewed willingness to align with US demands on defense and security. According to data released by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, in fiscal year 2025 Tokyo purchased US weapons through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program for approximately 993 billion yen, an increase of approximately 110 billion compared to the previous year.
Major purchases include F-35A and F-35B stealth fighters, for a total of 222.7 billion yen, and KC-46A refueling planes, for 222.4 billion. The weakness of the Japanese currency has made purchases in dollars more expensive and represents an additional pressure factor for Tokyo, called upon to finance an unprecedented military expansion plan while procurement costs continue to rise.
