Japan SHIELD littoral defense concept built around low-cost unmanned systems

Japan’s 2026 Defense White Paper outlines the SHIELD concept (Synchronized, Hybrid, Integrated and Enhanced Littoral Defense) to be established by FY2027, emphasizing mass acquisition of low-cost unmanned air, surface, and undersea vehicles plus scalable production and stockpiling. The novelty is the explicit doctrinal shift toward a Ukraine-informed, attritable unmanned-force posture integrated into littoral defense planning and industrial scaling.