What Tokyo can learn from Kyiv’s war experience

The Iran war, like the Russia‑Ukraine war, shows how low‑cost unmanned weapons can overwhelm expensive defense systems
By Mariia Hirniak
Special to The Japan Times
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The Iran conflict has demonstrated that the long-standing arithmetic in war preparations is now unsustainable.The normalization of drone and missile warfare has changed the paradigm, and with the Japanese government currently updating its three core defense documents — the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program — the time to act is now or fall further behind.The Iran War has demonstrated something that has already been evident in the Russia-Ukraine War, which is that low-cost unmanned weapons can overwhelm high-cost defense systems
Japan has long positioned itself for preparedness in large-scale defensive warfare against high-cost, high-tech forces and it must now shift to a more cost-effective and adaptive style of operations
There is an able and willing partner in Kyiv, if the two governments can overcome legal hurdles to cooperation.

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