TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told senior members of the Self-Defence Forces on Wednesday (Sept 2) that Japan needs to speed up the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned defence assets ahead of the planned year-end revision of three key national security documents, Kyodo News reported.
"It goes without saying that we should introduce even more speedily" technologies that develop at a completely different pace from traditional equipment, such as AI and unmanned defence assets, Takaichi said as commander-in-chief of the SDF.
Takaichi said the documents, to be revised less than four years after their previous update in 2022, "will set out a new direction for strengthening defence capabilities," as the security environment becomes more complex and countries rush to build AI-integrated systems and operate unmanned aircraft on a large scale.
The current National Security Strategy and two other defence-related documents formulated in 2022 were designed to cover the next 10 years, but Takaichi has decided to bring forward their revision to address changes in the security environment, with challenges posed by China and North Korea.
Japan also faces pressure from the administration of US President Donald Trump to increase defence spending.
Earlier this week, the Defence Ministry submitted a record budget request of 8.89 trillion yen (US$55 billion) for fiscal 2027 starting April, with plans to develop low-cost attack drones and introduce AI into the SDF's command structure.
"The activities of the SDF and the fundamental strengthening of defence capabilities that the government is currently pushing forward cannot happen without the understanding and cooperation of the public," Takaichi said.
She also vowed to improve working conditions for SDF members amid ongoing personnel shortages.
A study group comprising a former top bureaucrat at the Defence Ministry and former senior SDF members at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, a Tokyo-based nonprofit philanthropic organisation, called Wednesday for closer coordination with the private sector.
Areas of cooperation with the private sector have expanded to include the manufacture expanded to manufacturing and maintenance of defence equipment, the operation of communications infrastructure, cyber defence, AI, data analysis and satellites, the groups said in its proposals.
In the previous revision of the security documents, Japan decided to acquire counterstrike capabilities, marking a major shift from its exclusively defence-orientated policy under the war-renouncing Constitution, and set a goal of raising defence spending to the equivalent of 2.0 per cent of GDP.
The meeting of the Defence Ministry and Self-Defence Force Command Personnel was convened for the first time since Takaichi took office in October last year.
It was first held in 1964 and typically convened annually until September 2019, with a remote gathering held in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. - Bernama-Kyodo
