Germany Has Set Its 2026 Defence Budget At €108 Billion And Published Its First-Ever Defence Strategy Targeting The Strongest Conventional Army In Europe By 2039, While Japan Has Posted A Record ¥8.8 Trillion Defence Budget, Lifted Its Decades-Old Ban On Exporting Lethal Weapons, And Participated As Combat Forces In Joint Military Exercises For The First Time
According to The New York Times, Prism News and ORF India, Germany and Japan; the two countries whose unchecked militarism produced the catastrophe of the Second World War and who were subsequently embedded in strict post-war pacifist constitutional frameworks by Allied occupation, are now simultaneously undergoing the most significant military transformations in their modern histories, and are doing so in an increasingly coordinated manner.
Germany’s Bundeswehr rearmament is structured in three phases: immediate combat readiness through 2029, a position as the leading NATO military power through 2035, and the completion of a technologically superior military by 2039. Germany’s 2026 defence budget has been set at €83 billion in the core budget; approximately €108.2 billion when the special Zeitenwende fund is included, a more than 25% increase from the previous year.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz amended Germany’s constitutional debt brake specifically to allow defence spending at this scale. Germany published its first-ever formal defence strategy in April 2026, targeting a force of 460,000 personnel and long-range precision strike capabilities. The strategy’s central threat is explicit: Russia is mentioned 17 times.
Japan has moved with comparable speed. Japan’s Defence Ministry secured a record ¥8.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2026. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi officially lifted Japan’s decades-old ban on exporting lethal weapons in April, opening at least 17 countries to Japanese fighter jets, missiles, and warships.
Japan and Australia signed a $7 billion deal for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build 11 warships for the Royal Australian Navy. Japan’s Self-Defence Forces participated as combatants in the US-Philippines Balikatan 2026 exercises for the first time, testing offensive missile systems; the first time Japan has launched an offensive weapon system in a live exercise.
The two countries are also deepening bilateral defence ties. With global military expenditure reaching a record $2.9 trillion in 2025, Germany and Japan are not simply revisiting old habits of restraint. They are helping redraw the security map.
To check out our previous coverage on global defence spending, NATO, and Indo-Pacific security, read our articles here.
