Rank #10 · Asia-Pacific
Japan is executing the most dramatic military expansion in its postwar history, targeting ¥43 trillion ($290B) in defence outlays over FY2023-FY2027 — effectively doubling the annual budget to 2% of GDP. The centrepiece is a new counterstrike capability built around US-supplied Tomahawk cruise missiles and JASSM-ER standoff weapons, representing a constitutional and strategic break from Japan's exclusively defensive posture since 1947.
The FY2025 defence appropriation reached ¥8.5 trillion (~$58.5B), a 9.9% increase over FY2024 and the third consecutive record budget. Stand-off missiles take the largest new allocation at ¥970 billion, covering Tomahawk block procurement and domestic Type-12 missile range extensions. Integrated air and missile defence absorbs ¥537 billion. Space capabilities (¥227B), cybersecurity (¥265B), and drone development (¥103B) reflect the whole-of-spectrum posture in the 2022 National Security Strategy. Three new FFM-class multi-mission frigates (¥314B) sustain the maritime build-up. Financing relies partly on tobacco-tax receipts and corporate-tax surcharges under the ruling LDP's revenue package, with debt instrument use planned toward the end of the 5-year window.
The Japan Self-Defense Forces comprise 251,500 active personnel across the Ground (GSDF, ~150,000), Maritime (MSDF, ~45,000), and Air (ASDF, ~47,000) components, plus the newly established Joint Operations Command activated in 2024. The MSDF operates four helicopter carriers (two Izumo-class converted to F-35B capability), 22 destroyers, and 22 submarines — the largest non-nuclear submarine fleet in Asia. The ASDF fields 94 F-35As, with 42 F-35Bs on order for the carrier role. The GSDF is fielding the new Type-16 wheeled fire-support vehicle and expanding its amphibious rapid-deployment brigade. A new Space Operations Squadron monitors orbital threats; the Cyber Defense Command is scaling toward 4,000 personnel by FY2027.
Japan's defence industrial base is anchored by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (F-15J upgrades, F-X next-generation fighter development, submarines, Type-10 tanks), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (P-1 maritime patrol aircraft, C-2 transport, submarines), and IHI (jet engines). The 2022 NSS authorised Japan to export finished weapons systems for the first time in decades, and a 2024 cabinet decision allowed transfer of licensed-production equipment (including US-origin components) to third countries under strict conditions. Co-development of the F-X next-generation fighter with the UK and Italy under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) is the flagship industrial collaboration, with a 2035 service-entry target.
Japan faces a three-front deterrence challenge: China's rapid naval expansion and coercive activity around the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, North Korea's ballistic and hypersonic missile tests (including a 2024 ICBM over Japan's EEZ), and Russia's ongoing occupation of the Northern Territories. The new counterstrike doctrine — formalised in the December 2022 National Security Strategy — authorises strikes on enemy missile launchers during an active attack sequence, a significant revision to the "exclusively defence-oriented" principle. The Taiwan contingency is the dominant planning scenario; Japan hosts 54,000 US troops whose facilities would be critical in any such conflict.
The FY2025 budget enacted in March 2025 at ¥8.5 trillion confirmed Japan's trajectory toward 2% of GDP by FY2026. The first Tomahawk missiles were delivered to the MSDF in early 2025 for integration on Kongō-class destroyers. SIPRI's April 2026 release ranked Japan tenth globally with a ~21% real-terms increase in 2025. Japan hosted the first trilateral Joint Operations Command exercise with the US and Australia in October 2025. The GCAP programme formally entered the demonstrator phase in January 2026, with Japan committing ¥1.2 trillion to the joint design effort through FY2030.
Japan's FY2025 defence budget is ¥8.5 trillion (~$58.5 billion), the third consecutive record and approximately double the 2022 level. SIPRI ranks Japan tenth globally for 2025. The government aims to reach 2% of GDP (~¥10 trillion) by FY2026, completing a ¥43 trillion five-year buildup.
No. Japan is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and maintains a strict three non-nuclear principles policy: not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons. Japan relies on the US extended nuclear deterrence umbrella.
Japan's 2022 National Security Strategy authorised development of the ability to strike enemy missile launchers during an active attack — a significant departure from the purely defensive postwar posture. The capability is being built around US-supplied Tomahawk cruise missiles (for MSDF destroyers), JASSM-ER standoff weapons (for F-35A), and extended-range domestic Type-12 missiles, with initial operational capability planned by FY2026.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (fighters, submarines, tanks), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (maritime patrol aircraft, submarines, transport aircraft), IHI Corporation (jet engines), and Mitsubishi Electric (radar, electronics). Japan co-develops the next-generation GCAP fighter with the UK and Italy, targeting a 2035 service entry.