Following European Firms, U.S. Company Seeks to Build Military Drone Factory in Japan

Following European counterparts, an emerging U.S. defense company is now pushing to establish a production base for military unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in Japan.

The trend of global defense firms looking to turn Japan into a drone manufacturing hub to target the Asian market appears to be gaining momentum.

According to reports from Reuters and other sources on June 26, Anduril, a U.S. defense startup, is currently in negotiations to acquire the site of Nissan Motor's Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The plan is to transform the automotive plant, which Nissan intends to close amid restructuring due to recent poor performance, into a production facility for military drones.

It is reported that if the acquisition proceeds, Anduril intends to hire a significant portion of the existing vehicle production workforce for the drone factory.

Founded in 2017, Anduril announced its entry into the Japanese market last December. Since then, the company has been working to build a local production system, including showcasing drone prototypes made exclusively with Japanese parts in cooperation with local firms.

Recognizing the importance of drones following the war in Ukraine, the Japanese government is pursuing a "Shield Initiative" to deploy thousands of drones along its coast by 2027 to block enemy landings.

Anduril is not the first global company to attempt to enter the Japanese market, which has recently been expanding its domestic drone production base alongside an increase in defense spending.

Previously, Tekever, a Portuguese defense drone startup, announced that it would select a factory site in Japan within the next few months to use as a hub for exports to Asia.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.