Japan has set an ambitious three-month schedule for procuring new interceptor drones, the nation’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi announced in a press conference in early July.
The new drone is planned to be used to defend bases and ships against drone attacks, according to the Ministry of Defense’s (MoD) official tender announcement.
The competitive tender, which was posted on 5 June, set a 29 June deadline for bid submissions, with the selection of models for demonstration flights scheduled for completion within roughly ten days of submission.
Despite this tight schedule, a total of 38 companies participated in the bid, Koizumi told reporters.
Demonstration tests, which are to be carried out independently by Japan’s Ground, Sea and Aerospace Self-Defense Forces (SDF), have also been scheduled for completion by early August, with the winning bidders set to receive contracts soon after, the Defense Minister added.
The Interceptor drone early acquisition program will also trial a model of taking into account new technologies and capabilities presented in bids, and not just descriptions of operational needs contained in MoD specification documents, to inform the design of demonstration tests.
The acquisition was touted by the minister as a pilot trial of the MoD’s newly devised Fast-track Procurement model, which the Defense Minister on 27 February described as flexible contracting systems to facilitate the rapid adoption of technologies developed by start-ups.
The primary targets of the scheme include drones, AI, quantum computing, biomedicine and space capabilities, according to a brochure released on the same day by the Acquisitions, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA).
A total of seven billion yen (approx. A $62 million) has been allocated to the program’s 2026 budget to seed emerging technologies, with another 15.4 billion yen (approx. A $137 million) earmarked for private sector R&D.
This budget has been forecast to support projects for large scale production worth 710 billion yen (approx. A $6.3 billion).
The new drone tender, which comes on the back of Japan’s high-profile procurement of DefendTex’s Drone40, also coincides with growing industry interest in Japan’s burgeoning market for military drones.
In early July, Japan’s Terra Drone head Toru Tokushige announced plans to produce up to tens of thousands of interceptor drones annually in domestic facilities.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that US firm Anduril Industries is undertaking negotiations to acquire a Nissan Motor assembly plant near Tokyo to manufacture military drones in Japan.