As Europe’s giant unmanned aircraft development project, Eurodrone, deepens its involvement with Japan, concrete developments have been reported, including the German ambassador’s visit to Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Airbus. Japan continues to participate as an observer, and discussions are also progressing on the aircraft’s use in anti-submarine warfare.
Petra Sigmund (ペトラ・ジグムント), Germany’s ambassador to Japan, announced on 4 August 2026 that she had inspected Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ Gifu plant. Before this, on 26 June 2026, Kawasaki Heavy Industries signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus to examine the feasibility of using Eurodrone in anti-submarine warfare.
Eurodrone is a multinational development project involving Germany, France, Italy and Spain, among others, and is being led by Airbus of Germany. The visit could lead to concrete discussions on Japan-Germany defense cooperation.
While France is reportedly expected to take a step back from the development program, Japan has participated as an observer since 2023, placing it in a position to reflect its views more readily while taking into account developments in the major participating countries. Attention is focused on the progress of the memorandum of understanding and the development schedule.