Japan announced plans to double the number of nations that will receive military aid in 2025 under the country’s Official Security Assistance (OSA) program.
East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Tonga are expected to become the latest recipients of Japanese military aid as part of OSA, according to The Japan Times newspaper. Current recipients include Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, according to The Japan Times.
Expanding the recipient pool is intended “to help maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” a Japanese government source told The Japan Times.
Tokyo established the OSA program in April 2023 “for the benefit of armed forces and other related organizations of like-minded countries,” according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs news release. The program supports the country’s national security strategy approved by the Cabinet of Japan in December 2022.
Under OSA, participating nations receive equipment, supplies and assistance for infrastructure development aimed at strengthening security and deterrence. Support may include monitoring and surveillance in territorial waters and airspace and counterterrorism efforts. OSA may also provide disaster response, medical care and other humanitarian support, and peacekeeping operations support.
During each of the past two years, four nations have received assistance through OSA. Previous projects include:
- Coastal and air surveillance radar systems, related equipment and inflatable boats in the Philippines.
- Rescue boats and other equipment in Malaysia.
- Patrol boats in Bangladesh.
- Patrol and rescue boats and other equipment for Fiji.
- High-speed patrol boats in Indonesia.
- An air traffic control system for Mongolia.
- A coastal radar system and related infrastructure in Djibouti.
OSA’s expansion comes as Japan’s parliament approved a record $55 billion defense budget for 2025 as part of a five-year buildup under its national security strategy aimed at countering evolving threats from China, North Korea and Russia. The country aims to increase defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027 in its push to build a more self-sufficient military. Tokyo has also strengthened collaboration with NATO, opening a dedicated diplomatic mission to the Alliance in Brussels and providing aid to Ukraine as part of the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4) group of countries, with Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
Japan says it will deploy U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles in 2025 as part of a “standoff defense system” that includes long-range missiles, satellite networks and unmanned systems. In June 2025, its army announced it had conducted a missile test for the first time on Japanese territory, a surface-to-ship, short-range missile fired off the southern coast of Hokkaido, the country’s northernmost island, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Japan also is preparing to build a missile-firing range on uninhabited Minamitorishima, the country’s easternmost island in the Western Pacific, an area where two Chinese aircraft carriers were seen in June 2025 operating together for the first time, according to the AP.
“Domestic live-fire exercises like this one provide training opportunities for more troops,” a government spokesman said during a news conference after the missile test. “Such drills are “extremely important for us to maintain and improve the capability to defend islands and other areas, given the current severe security environment.”