Japan’s Ministry of Defense unveiled a record-high request of $60.1 billion for fiscal year 2026, a 14th consecutive annual increase aimed at bolstering long-range munitions and aerial unmanned systems to counter threats to its outlying islands.
The proposal, released in September 2025, tops the current $59.1 billion budget and is part of a five-year defense buildup program launched in 2023 to gradually raise defense outlays to 2% of gross domestic product by fiscal year 2027, with total expenditures projected at $292.6 billion over the life of the plan.
Roughly $875 million is earmarked for a new Synchronized Hybrid Integrated and Enhanced Littoral Defense (SHIELD) program, according to the U.S. Naval Institute News website. Scheduled to begin operations by March 2028, SHIELD will integrate land, surface, underwater and aerial unmanned platforms into a multilayer coastal defense network designed to counter surface and amphibious threats to Japan’s islands.
The ministry also seeks funding to procure four MQ-9 Sea Guardian unmanned aerial vehicles, five long-range maritime unmanned aerial vehicles and various stand-off weapons systems including the domestically developed and improved Type 12 submarine-launched cruise missile, the Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile for Island Defense, and hypersonic guided munitions. Foreign systems in the request include Joint Strike Missiles for F-35A fighters, Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-Off Missiles for upgraded F-15s and Tomahawk cruise missiles to arm two maritime destroyers. Naval investments include one improved Mogami-class frigate, trials for two Aegis System Equipped Vessel destroyers, a P-1 maritime patrol plane and two KC-46 aerial refueling tankers.
The plan also includes renaming the Japan Air Self-Defense Force as the Air and Space Self-Defense Force a year ahead of schedule, and the elevation of the Space Operations Group into a Space Operations Command tasked with coordinating Japan’s defense space and cyber activities.
“In recent years, the nature of combat has changed dramatically with the introduction of unmanned assets and advances in technological innovation in other countries,” the request stated, according to Stars and Stripes newspaper. The request reflects intensifying security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. China has increased air and naval patrols near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and executed large-scale drills around Taiwan. North Korea has also conducted multiple ballistic missile launches, and Russia has deepened military cooperation with both China and North Korea.
The budget proposal was submitted to Japan’s Finance Ministry for review. It must win cabinet approval before being sent to the National Diet for passage alongside the rest of the government’s fiscal year 2026 budget.