The move has triggered warnings that the new drones could be stationed in the Ryukyu chain close to the Chinese coast.

Japan is planning to replace some of its attack helicopters with multipurpose drones, prompting warnings from some Chinese media outlets and analysts that this could be seen as a hostile move. The country’s defence budget, which took effect on April 7 for this financial year, allocates 11.1 billion yen (US$70 million) for the procurement of five wide-area unmanned aerial vehicles. A further 280 billion yen was allocated for research and development into “unmanned asset defence…

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