Japan seeks record $70.9 billion defence budget with focus on AI

Japan is seeking a record defence budget of 8.9 trillion yen, or $70.9 billion, as Tokyo turns to artificial intelligence and unmanned systems to respond faster in a tense regional security environment.

The defence ministry’s request for the fiscal year beginning in April 2027 includes an AI-powered decision-support system. It also calls for low-cost drones that could operate alongside long-range missiles to neutralize enemy assets.

The proposal includes plans to develop hypersonic missiles launched from underwater and create a new unit to strengthen defences against cognitive warfare. The ministry described that threat as efforts to shape public opinion through disinformation campaigns and other operations.

The request could grow beyond 10 trillion yen. The Nikkei newspaper cited an unnamed ruling-party lawmaker who said the figure may rise because the current proposal does not specify the cost of many missiles, drones and digital systems. Officials said the amounts would be finalized after the government revises key national security documents by the end of the year.

Japan has increased military spending, deployed missile launchers to outer islands, pursued counterstrike capabilities and eased weapons-export rules. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made national defence a central part of her conservative agenda. Her comments about possible Japanese military intervention in a Taiwan conflict have further strained relations with China, which has warned against what it calls Japan’s return to “new militarism.”