Japan's Defense Ministry asked for a record budget of 8.9 trillion yen ($55.6 billion) Monday, as Tokyo turns to artificial intelligence to sharpen decision-making in an increasingly tense security climate.
The final budget reportedly could reach 10 trillion yen as Tokyo undergoes a sweeping upgrade of its defense in order to navigate growing tension with neighbors such as China, North Korea and Russia.
The latest request focuses on countering "new ways of warfare," with an emphasis on the use of AI, drones and standoff missiles.
Under the request, the ministry hopes to implement an AI-powered decision support system.
It also wants to procure low-cost drones that can work in tandem with long-range missiles to neutralize enemy assets.
The ministry said it plans to develop underwater-launched hypersonic missiles and establish a new unit to bolster defenses against cognitive warfare, a growing threat aimed at shaping public opinion through disinformation campaigns and other operations.
The budget request for the fiscal year starting from April 2027 highlights the latest step by Japan to boost its military to meet the volatile geopolitical reality, gradually shedding its traditional pacifist stance that limited the use of force purely for self-defense.
China's rapid military expansion and North Korea's steady development of missiles and nuclear weapons have pressed Japan to shore up its defense.
Russia's war in Ukraine has fueled worries among Japanese policymakers that a similar conflict could erupt in East Asia, considering China's mounting pressure on Taiwan and its escalating territorial disputes with Japan.
The Nikkei newspaper said the Defense Ministry's request may jump to more than 10 trillion yen, citing an unnamed ruling party lawmaker.
The current request did not specify the estimated costs of many products and services, including missiles, drones and digital systems.
These figures will be finalized once the government finishes its revision of core national security documents by the end of the year, defense officials said.
Those three documents set the outline of the country's future defense capabilities while assessing the country's security environment.
Japan has been beefing up military spending and security cooperation in Asia, deploying missile launchers to outer islands, moving to acquire "counterstrike" capabilities and easing rules on weapons exports.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, seen as a China hawk, has placed national defense at the top of her conservative agenda.
Japan's ties with China deteriorated sharply after she suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily in any conflict over Taiwan, which Beijing insists is its territory.
China has expressed alarm at what it sees as a return to "new militarism" by Japan.
Under Takaichi, the government is expected to make an overall budget request of around 143 trillion yen, a sharp increase from 122.4 trillion yen requested for the ongoing fiscal year, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
