June 23, 2025
TOKYO – The government has begun discussing the selection of eight countries in fiscal 2025 as recipients of the Official Security Assistance (OSA) program that provides defense equipment, according to sources.
Japan’s OSA aims to help like-minded countries enhance their security capabilities by providing the equipment to member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that are located on important points of Japan’s sea lanes, and to Pacific island nations where China is increasing its influence.
The government plans to provide the OSA aid to the eight countries, including Thailand, the Philippines and Tonga, as eligible recipients that share the same values as Japan.
The defense equipment includes things such as unmanned aerial vehicle drones and high-speed patrol boats.
Other potential recipients are Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea.
In addition to Japan’s domestically made drones, the government plans to provide military vessels for search and rescue missions and heavy machineries to be utilized in the event of disasters.
Related costs for the provisions are estimated to total about ¥8 billion.
The OSA is a framework in which Japan can directly assist military forces of like-minded countries and differs from the official development assistance framework in which aid is limited to non-military fields.
Since fiscal 2023, the Japanese government has decided to provide coastal surveillance radar, air control radar and high-speed patrol boats to the Philippines and Mongolia.