From Prototype to Production - Japan

​Japan stands at a turning point in its defense trajectory: the question is no longer whether to build autonomous systems; it is how to manufacture them faster than adversaries can deploy them.

​The new security reality in the Asia-Pacific is measured in production capacity, not prototype counts. Yet Japan’s defense manufacturing ecosystem, historically shaped by strict pacifist constraints, is only beginning to adapt to the demands of high-volume, rapid-cycle production.

​This event in Tokyo convenes executives from mobility, aerospace, deep tech, and investment to tackle a defining industrial challenge: How can Japan convert its precision manufacturing legacy into a sovereign drone production powerhouse?

​No country is better positioned on paper: Japan’s robotics, semiconductor, and automotive sectors represent exactly the industrial DNA needed for scalable drone production. Yet translating that potential into defense output requires deliberate cross-sector collaboration, reformed procurement frameworks, and a willingness to blur the line between civilian and military supply chains.

​Discussions will center on what it actually takes to scale: standardized drone architectures, dual-use component strategies, domestic supplier development, and integrating Japan’s existing precision manufacturing base into a coherent defense industrial network. Key technologies under focus include propulsion systems, energy storage, embedded computing, advanced materials, and sensor integration — alongside viable go-to-market strategies for both established manufacturers and emerging defense startups.

​The event is built for the decision-makers, technologists, and capital allocators who will determine whether Japan seizes this industrial moment or cedes it.

日本語版イベント概要(English follows)

• イベント名： From Prototype to Production - Japan

• 日程：2026年10月7日（水）

• 時間：12:00開場、13:00カンファレンス開始

• 会場：グレイドパーク恵比寿

• 住所：東京都渋谷区恵比寿南3-1-24 シティスクエア恵比寿1F

• 登壇予定社(変更可能性有、今後も追加予定)：

  • Bulwark Dynamics（日本の防衛SU；自律型無人輸送艇を開発）
  • Diarkis（日本のSU；数十万規模の同時接続を支える低遅延・分散型ネットワーク基盤を防衛領域へ展開）
  • European Defence Tech Hub（欧州最大の防衛イノベーションハブ）
  • Nexus Pacific（米国空軍・FBI出身者らによる東京拠点の防衛・デュアルユース戦略アドバイザリー）
  • Orcrist（ドイツのスケールアップ；ドイツ国防軍向けのAIソフトウェア入札をPalantirと競い落札）
  • Panop（豪州のSU；電磁スペクトラムをリアルタイムで可視化・制御するC2基盤を開発。豪国防省のC2関連選考でLockheed Martin・Boeing等と並んで選出）
  • Patria Japan（欧州を代表する防衛プライム）
  • 日本航空宇宙工業会（航空・宇宙・防衛関連の主要企業約140社で構成される、日本の航空宇宙産業を代表する業界団体）
  • デロイトトーマツベンチャーサポート

• 形式：カンファレンス、立食形式のネットワーキング

• 言語：英語

Event Outline:

Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Time: Doors open at 12:00 / Conference starts at 13:00

Venue: Grade Park Ebisu

Address: City Square Ebisu 1F, 3-1-24 Ebisu-Minami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Confirmed / Expected Speakers
Subject to change, with additional speakers to be announced

• Bulwark Dynamics (Japanese defense startup developing autonomous unmanned transport vessels)
• Diarkis (Japanese startup bringing its low-latency, distributed networking platform, capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of concurrent connections, to the defense sector)
• European Defence Tech Hub (Europe’s largest defense innovation hub)
• Nexus Pacific (Tokyo-based defense and dual-use strategic advisory firm founded by former U.S. Air Force and FBI professionals)
• Orcrist (German scale-up that outbid Palantir to win a German Armed Forces tender for AI software)
• Panop (Australian startup developing a C2 platform for the real-time visualization and control of the electromagnetic spectrum; selected alongside Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and others in a C2-related evaluation by the Australian Department of Defence)
• Patria Japan (the Japanese arm of one of Europe’s leading defense prime contractors)
• The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC) (Japan’s leading aerospace industry association, comprising approximately 140 major companies across the aviation, space, and defense sectors)
• Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support

Format: Conference followed by standing networking reception

Languages: English

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Agenda

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