Japanese Weapons Are Open for Export || Apr. 28, 2026
Japan has lifted its long-standing restriction on exporting weapons. This will bring some fresh dynamism to the global defense industry, specifically in naval manufacturing and drones.
While the impact will likely be gradual, Japan is already fleshing out plans to supply ships to Australia. The real impact will be seen when Japan's decades of investment in automation are on display, which positions it to become a major drone producer. Collaborations with Ukraine are just the first glimpse of what could evolve from this.
As Japan leans into defense exports, it could very well reshape modern warfare and emerge as a leading global drone power.
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Comments (30)
When the US/Trump abdicates from global leadership and advocates for isolationism there's always someone else waiting in the wing.
Their Terra A1 is a partnership with Ukraine. $2-3,000 fast drone that can take out $30-50,000 Shahed drones. They are not built in one facility in Ukraine but piecemeal in various places so that a singular strike cannot take out the entire assembly line. I have wanted to buy into this Japanese company.
Will they be called kamikaze? Zero?
Japanese military anime is going to be eating good.
Japanese defense and dual-use items has a long history of pricing themselves out of a lot of markets...but, depending on the broader market they could come big players on the high-end in particular. Warships in particular, aircraft if they can get their cost/performance ratio under control, missiles and radar/fire control... Also, on the lower end...it's not just about Japan building and exporting stuff...they can also establish production just about anywhere they care to, including places like, oh, I don't know, Ukraine? Japanese tech combined with partners with lower production costs could get very interesting very quickly...add on top of that everything that the Taiwanese have to bring to the table (the AI chip side in particular), and it is a whole new world for the drone space. Mind you, none of this particularly means anything good for the US unless we pull our collective heads out of our asses real quick-like...
Thank G-d the Japanese are getting involved.
I don't suppose they have any minesweepers available?
Don't they still have a restriction about selling to participants in active warfare like Ukraine?
Great question! Cuz thats what I want to see.
"Made in Japan" won't have the same meaning it did 50 years ago. We'll take 45 ship-mountable railguns and 11 jeep carriers. And one big battleship for our President, please.
Wow. Thats something. Big day today.
Do mean World War Eleven? 🫠
In the not too distant future, next Sunday AD.
We are going to get Gundums! I’m just kidding we’re clearly with the ethics of the billionaire class in the US getting skynet and terminators… This is really gonna hurt my retirement plan
So who's going to want to buy American weapons? Thank you, Donny, for making America mediocre again. But I bet the ballroom at the Whight House will be fabulous.
No one wants to buy proprietary US weapons that can be disabled at the whim of a dementia ridden generalissimo. AND thanks to Trump, we proved that the F-35 is NOT as “invisible”(Trump’s words, he kept talking about it as if it was ACTUALLY invisible and not “virtually Invisible”)as everyone thought. I believe China and Iran got together and figured out heat pattern triangulation; that plane gets VERY hot.
Old news - I was buying Pokémon back in the sixth grade
Japan has a license to produce Patriot missiles. I am sure they can do so better, faster and cheaper. Ukraine has drone motherships for drones, air, land and sea. They need Patriots the one thing they don't produce. If anyone thinks B1's and B2's can take out drone production may I remind you their ceiling of operation is 50,000 feet. The aircraft record of operation is 100,000 feet by a propeller driven aircraft. Solar has been proven to operate an aircraft for extended periods. Height makes might.
Japan is filling a deterrence void... I see this as very welcome news 👍
Hope you got to enjoy barista parlor while you were in town
Could be interesting. Japan figured out how to make ship-mounted electromagnetic railguns before BAE Systems could.
I can foresee a rather set of contracts from the Republic of China (aka. Taiwan.)
I am all for it, so long as Japan is on our side. I am guessing Japan-China, Japan-Korea friction will be a factor and a motivator.
So far, that's a relation we haven't blow up.
I japanese like robots. Seen any anime?
Shouldn’t the Japanese be more involved in an active war zone to make actually useful drones? Ukraine is now the largest and the fastest defense hardware startup accelerator on planet, a new iteration of a drone designed over the weekend will probably take out a Russian soldier by Wednesday. Improvements will be noted, designs change, new version is on the field by end of the week. I think German industry is also at an advantage, as some drone startups in Germany also ship to Ukraine regularly. I remember reading one drone manufacturer made a low quality batch and Ukrainians, let’s just say gave very strong feedback. But this is exactly what needed, the question is where does Japan find it? Soon in Taiwan?
The Japanese are going to be selling Gundams in the not too distant future
They also have the only potentially useful rail guns. The US has built some big cool ones but the Japanese have put one on a ship and used it.
Sooooo when do the Wartortle go on sale and how much does it cost for a dozen? Asking cause I got some black market deals pending with some Per.. ooos. Don’t want any of you undercutting my government bids.
Can I pay in Bonny Lite?