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Japan has announced its intention to replenish its fleet of drones while replacing its outdated assault and reconnaissance helicopters. All this is part of Tokyo's plans to strengthen the defense capability of its army, according to the country's Ministry of Defense.
Although the document does not disclose details of new types of unmanned aircraft systems, nevertheless, presumably, we are talking about medium-range kamikaze drones, as well as drones with a long flight duration.
Currently, the country is armed with 50 Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, as well as 12 American-made Boeing AH-64D Apache attack helicopters. As for aerial surveillance helicopters, the Japanese navy has 37 Kawasaki OH-1 Ninja units and about 100 Hughes OH-6D Cayuse light helicopters.
The transition to unmanned aerial vehicles will reduce aviation personnel to about 1,000 pilots. Ultimately, this will lead to a redistribution of aviation forces and assets, reducing them to a regional grouping of troops instead of the squadrons currently operating at the division and brigade level.
To date, the Land Self-Defense Forces of Japan provide the operation of military transport helicopters Boeing CH-47 Chinook, Fuji UH-1 and multipurpose American helicopters Sikorsky UH-60. There is also active work on replacing the UH-1 with a dual-engine multi-purpose Subaru UH-2 helicopter of domestic production. It is also planned to supply the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces with 77 units of such aircraft by 2027.
In conclusion, it is worth noting about the plans of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces to reduce the number of units of their Kawasaki P-1 patrol aircraft, giving preference in favor of naval drones with a surface situation monitoring system.