The Japanese government has created a draft public-private investment roadmap for small drones and is examining a raft of other measures to adapt to the “new ways of warfighting” on display in the Ukraine and Iran conflicts, Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters on 12 May.
Speaking at a press conference at Japan’s House of Councillors, Koizumi said the prominent use of drones in the Russia-Ukraine War, and Japan’s need for asymmetric and sustained warfighting capabilities, underlined the need to build a domestic mass production capacity for “cheap and high performance” unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
This in turn requires the nation to establish “a system that enables stable procurement [for domestic drone producers] and rapid recovery and maintenance [of assets] when needed,” Koizumi stated.
The minister highlighted a number of current regulatory shortcomings that were impeding the development of the industry, and in particular start-ups at the forefront of innovation in the sector.
He said discussions with venture capital incubators had revealed that some government financial institutions continued to restrict investment in weapons-related technologies, resulting in “venture capital firms funded by these institutions being unable to invest” in start-ups aiming to develop UAVs for the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
Long lead times from contract to payment for MoD procurements have also created cash-flow problems for small start-ups in the industry. In addition, accounting rules that made state R&D funding a reimbursement rather than sales meant that drone producers would not be able to report increased sales volumes from R&D contracts to potential investors, Koizumi noted.
The Minister said that since small drones fell into the category of dual use technology, the MoD was working together with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to overcome these and other regulatory burdens on drone sector start-ups as a matter of urgency.
He also announced that the Japan Growth Strategy Council’s Defense Industry Working Group, which is led by both ministries and last met in late April, has created a “public-private investment roadmap to promote investment in small UAVs.”
He added that new policies for the sector will likely be set out in the revised three security documents (the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program) scheduled to be released in December.
The press conference came one day after Koizumi received a grilling on the progress of the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ (JSDF) UAV capability buildup during a House of Representatives’ Committee on Security question and answer session.
On 27 April, Koizumi visited Japanese drone producing start-up AirKamuy.
“Since the Self Defense Force aims to become the world leader in using unmanned assets like drones, strengthening collaboration with start-ups interested in the defence sector is essential,” the Minister said in a subsequent post on X.
AloJapan.com