Japan

SkyDrive has signed a preorder agreement with 7A Drones for 10 SD-05 air taxis for emergency transportation of patients and medical staff in Taiwan.

Finnair had to rethink its strategy after Russia’s Ukraine invasion, but now Japan demand is back.

Airbus says it will augment its space-based SAR imagery provision through a teaming agreement with Japan’s Synspective to boost resolution and revisit rates.

ATLA says it is seeing a roughly 50% increase in interest and engagement from foreign customers for Japanese defense solutions at this year's Singapore Airshow.

Airbus plans to finally deploy the Superbird-9 broadcast and broadband satellite for Japan’s SKY Perfect JSAT next year after multiple delays, Schoellhorn says.

A global team of researchers has demonstrated that active twisting of helicopter main rotor blades could help reduce noise and vibration levels.

For Japan, 2026 marks the penultimate year of its five-year Defense Buildup Plan, initiated in 2022 in response to a perceived deterioration in the regional security environment.

Two French space companies are forming a strategic partnership to build deorbiting systems for use in low Earth orbit.

Chinese airlines have reportedly canceled all scheduled services on 49 routes to Japan this February as tensions between the countries continue to simmer.

Interstellar Technologies of Japan, a rocket developer, has raised a $130 million Series F round.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ new surface-to-surface missile (SSM) program has entered an advanced flight-test phase.

The Global Combat Air Program continues to make quiet progress despite appearing to be in contract limbo.

The deterioration in China-Japan relations is increasingly evident not only in diplomatic rhetoric and trade measures, but in a rapidly shrinking air corridor that had only recently recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

Japan’s Ministry of Defense has awarded Astroscale a contract to develop “a general gripping mechanism system” to grab “national satellites.”

Japan plans to study the use of General Atomics MQ-9B UAS for aerial interception missions, as it faces airspace intrusions by Chinese and Russian aircraft.

Hybrid focus for Clean Aviation; exhaust additives reduce contrails; point-to-point cargo eVTOL demo; and anti-jamming for urban air taxis.

Textron Aviation Defense has finalized its first contract to deliver two Beechcraft T-6JP Texan II trainers to Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force.

While Chinese carriers are cutting capacity to Japan, the two major Japanese airlines are so far not reducing their service to mainland China.

Chinese airlines have sharply pulled back their planned flying to Japan in December, slashing almost a quarter of capacity and frequencies compared to November.

Chinese tourists are increasingly seeking flights to alternative destinations amid tensions between China and Japan.

Japan has big ambitions for its space industry. But before the country can realize those dreams, it needs rides to space to test its technologies.

Private Chinese company Sichuan Lingkong Tianxing Technology on Nov. 25 unveiled its Yu Kong Ji (YKJ)-1000 hypersonic missile.

Japan has completed a series of proof-of-concept flights involving multiple scaled collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and MUM-T from a helicopter.

Washington has approved Japan’s request to acquire RTX GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb Increment II glide munitions, better known as the StormBreaker.

The rapid growth in inbound travel to Japan is showing no signs of easing off, and Japanese outbound demand is also rising, a Japan Airlines executive says.