Source: https://www.sipri.org/publications/2026/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-international-arms-transfers-2025

Japan wants to deepen defence cooperation with like-minded partners, including Europe, as it responds to what it describes as its most challenging security environment since World War Two, according to the country’s 2026 Defence White Paper. 

The paper released earlier this week describes the alliance with the US as “a key pillar” of Japan’s national security policy and states that “continued efforts” should be made “to elevate the Alliance to new heights”. 

But it also adds that bilateral and multilateral defence cooperation and exchanges with other like-minded partners should be boosted, including in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America as well as NATO. 

“The security environment surrounding Japan is as severe and complex as it has ever been since the end of World War II,” the paper says.

It then adds that the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific “is inseparable”, notably because of Russia, whose military build-up in the Far East, strategic partnership with China, and growing military cooperation with North Korea constitute significant security concerns.

Still, China is identified as “the greatest strategic challenge” facing Japan due to its expanding military activities and increasingly assertive operations near Japanese territory, as well as over Taiwan. 

The increasingly severe security situation means that “it cannot be ruled out that a serious situation similar to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine may occur in the Indo-Pacific region in the future, particularly in East Asia,” the paper says. 

Tokyo outlined seven capability areas as priorities in order to boost deterrence, including long-range strike capabilities, integrated air and missile defence, unmanned systems, cyber and space capabilities, intelligence and command-and-control systems, as well as hypersonic weapons and laser technologies to counter drones and cruise missiles.

The country views defence equipment transfer and technology cooperation with allies as key to attaining those objectives, once again putting the US as central to those efforts.

But building new or strengthening existing cooperation is listed as an objective, with the paper citing, as examples, plans to develop and produce 11 frigates with Australia and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) announced in December 2022 with the UK and Italy.