News, deep dives, and analysis — every Japan story, newest first.
Airbus and Kawasaki Heavy Industries signed a memorandum of understanding on June 26 to develop an anti-submarine and maritime patrol version of the Eurodrone for the Japanese market. The deal is the first concrete export pull for a European medium-altitude long-endurance UAV that has not yet flown. Japan joined the broader Eurodrone program in November…
Anduril Industries is in talks to buy Nissan’s Oppama assembly plant in Yokosuka, Japan, and convert the 64-year-old car factory into a production site for military drones. Reuters broke the story on June 25, 2026, citing three people familiar with the negotiations. No deal has been signed, and Nissan says it is weighing other buyers,…
Westmag emerged from stealth on Tuesday with $11 million in seed funding to manufacture drone motors and robot actuators in South San Francisco, aiming squarely at the one part of the American drone supply chain almost no one has tried to fix. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Founders Fund, Lux Capital, NFDG,…
DJI has set the date and venue for the Osmo Pocket 4P reveal. The company posted matching teasers Monday from its global and Japan X accounts confirming a Cannes, France event on May 14, 2026 at 17:00 CEST. That date lands inside the 79th Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 12 to May 23.…
DJI confirms the Osmo Pocket 4P with coordinated global and Japan teasers showing the dual-lens hardware. Late May or June launch likely. US blocked.
DJI teases the Mic Mini 2S on the same day the Mic Mini 2 goes on sale, adding internal recording and four-transmitter support this summer.
A Tokyo defense startup just put a $450 fixed-wing drone on the Japanese market, and the airframe is made of wood. JISDA, short for Japan Integrated Security Design Agency, announced the ACM-01 Shiraha on April 14 in Tokyo. It’s a 6.2-foot wingspan trainer built to be flown hard, crashed, and replaced without anyone wincing at…
Japan just put real money behind the idea that attack helicopters are finished. The country’s fiscal year 2026 defense budget, enacted on April 7, includes ¥11.1 billion ($69.7 million) to buy five “wide-area UAVs” for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, as Defence Blog reported. The procurement is the first funded step in a plan to…
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