Rakuten Group has indicated plans to serve as the point of contact supporting the domestic deployment of the attack drone HX-2. As Japan’s defense drone market enters a full-scale development phase, the company’s response is consistent with the reported information.
Rakuten Group has confirmed the facts surrounding reports on an attack drone and indicated a policy of supporting its domestic deployment as the sales point of contact in Japan. The company is positioned as supporting the domestic introduction of HX-2, and the development of an operational structure is under consideration. This has focused attention on a phase in which Japan’s domestic defense drone market could develop into a full-scale new business area for Japanese companies.
The article cites Sony, Shimadzu Corporation and DISCO as examples of companies that restrict weapons-related transactions from the standpoint of corporate ethics, explaining that companies may adopt different policies even where the transactions are technically feasible. Rakuten is described as having made clear that it is choosing the latter course. This could affect other companies’ consideration of entering the market.
The expansion of Japan’s defense drone market is interpreted as signaling the arrival of an era in which the scope and methods of using and developing domestic companies’ technologies are being called into question. Rakuten’s move is positioned not merely as news about one company, but as a case that may prompt consideration of future business principles and the nature of commercial transactions.