TOKYO: Japan’s Defense Ministry plans to deploy small attack drones in a bid to strengthen the defense of southwestern and other remote islands.

The ministry will make preparations for the deployment, introducing US-made and other drones in fiscal 2023 on a trial basis. It aims to deploy several hundred attack drones from fiscal 2025 at the earliest.

The ministry assumes that attack drones would be used for “suicide” attacks, crashing into enemy vehicles and vessels coming to invade remote Japanese islands.

Such drones are expected to enhance the deterrent power of the country’s Self-Defense Forces.

The ministry has included funds for the deployment of attack drones in its budget request for fiscal 2023. How much funds will be allocated to the deployment will be decided during work to compile the government’s initial budget for the year from next April.

Meanwhile, the ministry aims to include the active deployment of drones for various purposes in the country’s three key national security documents, which are due to be updated later this year.

The operation of attack drones has already begun overseas. China has developed and put into practical use attack and other drones, while expanding its activities around Japan’s southwestern islands.

Japan has introduced the Global Hawk large surveillance drone and started to operate drones for disaster relief missions. But no attack drone has been deployed.

Using 30 million yen secured as research and development expenses in the government’s fiscal 2022 budget, the Defense Ministry started related research by borrowing US- and Israeli-made attack drones.

The ministry plans to select drone types for use around remote islands, while envisioning domestic drone production in the future.

JIJI Press