Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani met his Turkish counterpart in Ankara last week, pledging to boost defense industry cooperation as Tokyo weighs the possibility of purchasing drones from the NATO member country.
Nakatani’s visit to Turkey for talks with Defense Minister Yasar Guler (photo) was the first official trip to the country - which is also a U.S. ally - by a Japanese defense chief, according to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japanese and Turkish media reported.
During their roughly 100-minute meeting, the two defense chiefs agreed to further expand defense cooperation between their countries and to hold consultations between senior defense officials on the potential for defense equipment and technology cooperation, the Ministry said.
Drones, although not explicitly mentioned by either side in readouts of the meeting, were believed to have featured prominently in the discussions, which ran longer than the initially scheduled 60 minutes. A deal to purchase Turkish-made drones, however, was not expected to be announced.
Nakatani also visited Istanbul on Wednesday for tours of military facilities and defense companies, including drone-maker Baykar, following a trip to major defense firm Turkish Aerospace Industries a day earlier.
The Japanese Defense Ministry is considering using up to ¥200 billion ($1.4 billion) of a record ¥8.8 trillion budget request for fiscal 2026 toward the mass deployment of defensive drones, media reports have said, as Japan pursues a policy of quantity over quality amid what it says is an increasingly harsh regional security environment.
The Ministry is expected to submit its budget request for the next fiscal year, which starts in April, by the end of August.
China’s increasingly assertive moves in the air and waters around Japan have triggered calls from lawmakers to employ drones to better respond and deter incursions into its airspace and territorial waters.
In order to quickly introduce air, sea and underwater drones into the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) by the end of fiscal 2027, Japan is looking at potentially purchasing the unmanned assets from Turkey, Australia, the United States and others.
Stockpiling drones - quickly - has been a key target for the Ministry, a push that was highlighted in Japan’s 2022 Defense Buildup Program. According to the program, the SDF will “expeditiously procure various types of unmanned assets.”
As part of the program, Japan is aiming to spend some ¥1 trillion on drone procurement and research and development costs by the conclusion of its five-year, ¥43 trillion spending plan through 2027.
The drones on its wish list include long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles and shipborne unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance assets, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles for “the rapid transport of supplies to widely dispersed deployed units, remote bases and naval vessels.”
In the current budget for fiscal 2025, the Defense Ministry allocated ¥41.5 billion for the deployment of large, U.S.-made MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones in a bid to improve surveillance operations, as well as ¥3.2 billion to buy scores of small attack drones capable of striking enemy vehicles, ships and aircraft.
While it is looking to buy relatively inexpensive foreign-made drones that are expected to be put into service as early as possible, the Defense Ministry’s longer-term plans are to help boost domestic manufacturing of the weapons. Promoting domestic production, including by reinforcing supply chains of necessary parts, will be crucial in this endeavor.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, motorcycle maker Kawasaki Motors and carmaker Subaru have all expressed interest in the push, with all three firms displaying exhibitions featuring drones or components at the DSEI Japan defense equipment show in May 2025.
The Ministry set up a task force in April to study the use of AI and drones in warfare. Lessons learned in the Ukraine war - where the use of drones in combat has effectively changed the nature of warfare - has highlighted the need to quickly acquire the weapons.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry has also begun looking into the capabilities of Japanese firms to manufacture different dual-use drones for export as a growing number of countries involved in its military aid program express interest in the unmanned systems.
