Japan has begun developing unmanned combat aircraft, and the first prototype can be deployed in early 2025.
According to Japanese military sources, Japan will introduce a new unmanned combat aircraft based on the F-X, a sixth-generation stealth fighter under development for the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) and will be the first fully domestically developed stealth combat aircraft that will replace the Mitsubishi F-2 by mid-year. 2030.
According to the plan released by the Japanese Ministry of Defence, Japan would like to develop two types of unmanned aircraft systems, including a conventional pilot-controlled fighter, which can perform the same combat missions, such as standard combat aircraft and a ballistic missile that uses sensor arrays to track missile threats.