Over €400 billion in five years: Japan weighs doubling defence spending to learn from new combat methods in Ukraine and Iran

The Japanese government plans to nearly double the country's defense spending over the next five years as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed her desire to strengthen Japan's military capabilities, according to two sources familiar with the matter. If applicable, spending on defense strengthening for the five-year period from April 2027 would be set at between 70,000 and 80.

000 billion yen (395 to 451 billion euros), or about 1.8 times the approximately 43,000 billion yen allocated under the current five-year plan, which began in fiscal year 2023. The Japanese Defense Ministry said it had no comment to make at this time.

Taking inspiration from new combat methods in Ukraine and Iran A source told Reuters that this new spending should notably be used to finance the purchase of a significant number of drones, adding that the depreciation of the yen had increased the cost of acquiring defense equipment. Japan plans to focus its defense on intercepting long-range attacks through the deployment of drones, drawing inspiration from new combat methods seen in conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, government officials told Reuters in September. The Japanese Ministry of Defense has said for several years that it wants to develop domestically produced long-range missiles.

It also prioritizes budgetary allocations for drones, artificial intelligence and space technologies in order to adapt to new forms of warfare. Since the end of 2021, the yen has lost more than 37% against the dollar and some 35% against the euro.

Machine-translated from French