Faced with an increasingly fraught security environment, rapid changes in modern warfare and dwindling troop numbers, the Self-Defense Forces have begun incorporating what they hope will be affordable yet game-changing technologies that could give them an edge in any future conflict: drones.
Whether for use in the air, on land or at sea, the SDF is gradually integrating these increasingly capable and often autonomous systems into their units as Japan takes lessons from the war in Ukraine on how the assets can act as force multipliers while minimizing human losses and operate continuously for long periods.
“It is safe to say that the unprecedented scale of unmanned aerial vehicle deployments in the Ukraine war, and their effectiveness, has been an important driver behind the interest in UAVs,” said Naoko Aoki, a Japan expert and political scientist at the Rand Corp.
