Japan's Military Turns to AI and Automation Amid Recruitment Crisis

How AI will help Japan's military cope with its worst recruitment year ever - Fast Company

Japan's defense ministry on Friday said it will invest in AI, automation and improving troop conditions to address a worsening recruitment shortfall that has left its forces understaffed amid a build up aimed at countering China's growing military power. The measures, unveiled in its latest defence budget request on Friday, come after the Self Defense Forces' (SDF) worst ever annual recruitment drive. In the year to March 31 it enrolled just under 10,000 sailors, soldiers and air personnel, half of its target. Fearful that China could use military force to bring neighbouring Taiwan under its control and drag Japan into a war, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2022 announced a doubling in defense spending to stock up on missiles and other munitions, pay for advanced fighter jets and create a cyber defence force. Japan's falling birth rate, however, mean it is struggling more than ever to maintain current SDF troop levels at 250,000 people.

Japan's Military to Spend on AI, Automation, Perks to Combat Recruitment Crisis

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's defence ministry on Friday said it will invest in AI, automation and improving troop conditions to address a worsening recruitment shortfall that has left its forces understaffed amid a build up aimed at countering China's growing military power. The measures, unveiled in its latest defence budget request on Friday, come after the Self Defense Forces' (SDF) worst ever annual recruitment drive. In the year to March 31 it enrolled just under 10,000 sailors, soldiers and air personnel, half of its target. Fearful that China could use military force to bring neighbouring Taiwan under its control and drag Japan into a war, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2022 announced a doubling in defense spending to stock up on missiles and other munitions, pay for advanced fighter jets and create a cyber defence force. Japan's falling birth rate, however, mean it is struggling more than ever to maintain current SDF troop levels at 250,000 people. "As we increase our defensive strength, we need to build an organisation that is able to fight in new ways," the defence ministry said in the annual budget request, which calls for a 6.9% spending increase to a record 8.5 trillion yen ($59 billion) To cope with fewer recruits, the ministry said it will introduce artificial intelligence technology, allocating 18 billion yen next year for an AI surveillance system for military base security. It will also buy more unmanned drones and order three highly-automated air defense warships for 314 billion yen that require only 90 sailors, less than half the crew of current ships. To free up more troops for frontline assignments the SDF will also outsource some training and support operations to former SDF members and civilian contractors. And in a bid to tap Japan's shrinking pool of fighting-age people, who are also being pursued by companies able to pay more, it plans to offer financial incentives and better living conditions, such as sleeping quarters with more privacy and improved access to social media. In particular, it is focusing on luring more women, who make less than 10% of the SDF. Attempts to boost their number have been hindered by a series of high-profile sexual harassment cases. To help turn around that effort, Japan's military wants 16.4 billion yen to build accommodation for female personnel, with improved toilets and showers. It also said it will hire outside councilors to support women and strengthen harassment training.

Japan woos military recruits with bigger steaks and better beds

Japan is touting better bunks and bigger steaks in an effort to address a yawning shortfall in military recruitment as the country's population shrinks and ages. The plan to improve living conditions on military bases is part of a recruitment drive as Japan ramps up spending on its Self-Defence Force to counter growing global instability, including a rising threat from China and North Korea. Japan's defence ministry on Friday requested a record $59bn allocation for the fiscal year from next April, the latest instalment of a plan announced in 2022 to raise the defence-related budget to 2 per cent of gross domestic product by 2027. As well as highlighting the need for better satellite technology and greater investments in automation and AI, the defence ministry presented a strategy for "making military careers more attractive", with pay and allowance bumps to try to prevent young Japanese from being tempted by higher paid private sector jobs. More practical efforts include a promise of improved showers and toilets, and greater privacy in sleeping quarters. Money will be allocated to building individual "capsule" style sleeping rooms on naval vessels. Recruitment efforts by the SDF in some parts of the country have focused on poorer families. A recent controversial leaflet drive in the northern city of Sapporo focused on parents at "children's cafeterias" -- facilities set up to provide free meals to children of low-income families. The recruitment campaign in the past year has also focused on the size and quality of steaks served at various army bases. The hunt for recruits comes as Japan fortifies itself against what it sees as a rising threat from neighbours such as China. Earlier this week a Chinese military aircraft made an unprecedented incursion into Japanese airspace -- a violation described by Tokyo as "totally unacceptable" and a threat to national security. Like all employers in Japan, the SDF is having to fight a persistent enemy: demographics. The country's working-age population is shrinking and the number of young people is in long-term decline. In July, the defence ministry said its enlistment rate in the tax year to March 2024 had fallen to a record low of 50.8 per cent of its target. The 15 percentage point drop from the previous year was blamed on the shrinking population as well as high-profile sexual harassment scandals. On Friday, government data showed a sharp 5.7 per cent year-on-year drop in the number of babies born to Japanese nationals between January and June, to just over 350,000. The sharp drop puts the annual number of births on course to fall below 700,000 this year for the first time since records began.