In this fortnightly online column, ADM journalist Corey Lee Bell covers defence news across Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Drones and IT/AI startups make big impact at ATLA’s DIPEX
Advanced drones/automated systems and AI technology were among the key exhibits at Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency’s (ATLA) latest Defense Industry Promotion Exhibition (DIPEX), which was held in Tokyo on December 1 and 2.
DIPEX primarily serves as a matching event between Japanese tech companies and both Japan’s defence industry stalwarts and Ministry of Defense’s (MoD).
The event’s inauguration roughly coincided with the release of the MoD Defense Buildup Program (DBP) in late 2022.
The latest iteration also featured a special pavilion for startups – identified in the DBP as an important resource for quickening the MoD’s absorption of dual-use technology.
Over 40 firms won approval to host booths in one of the event’s five exhibits, which covered areas including sensors and monitoring, energy and manufacturing technology.
Over half of the displays were in the two categories of drones/automated systems and IT – reflecting key priorities outlined in the 2022 National Security Strategy and subsequent whitepapers.
Among the event’s participants was the artificial intelligence startup Sakana AI – a Nvidia-backed unicorn whose reputation as a potential key defence provider has risen rapidly since its founding in 2023.
The Japanese startup, which introduced its technology at the ATLA 2025 Technology Symposium in mid-November, presented a set of semi-autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone operation systems in one of its displays.
The UAV utilises its Temporally Adaptive Interpolated Distillation (TAID) – a model that increases the efficiency of knowledge distillation from Large Language Models (LLM) to allow high performing Small Language Models (SLM) to function on smaller devises.
Among the innovations promoted in the display was a three-fold configuration for control, including a “base model” that provides a UAV-agnostic operation system that can utilise natural language / common sense instructions, allegedly reducing training cost and learning time requirements for operators.
Sakana AI also unveiled its “small base model” that uses its TinySwallow-1.5B TAID, which can function on small edge devices such as mobile phones while offline – offering a highly portable AI-based system for operating small, limited-function drones.
Other highlights at the event included a 1/6 scale model of geospatial data provider and 2024 Japan-US Innovation Award winner Synspective’s StriX satellite.
The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-equipped technology, which originated from Japan’s Impulsing Paradigm Change through Disruptive Technologies (ImPACT) R&D program, represents a development of Japan’s burgeoning space industry.
It combines a compact design and the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components to present a high-performance product that Synspective believes has drastically reduced purchase and launch costs.
Among other categories was a display of a cost-efficient, rapid-construction 3D printing technology from SerenDix, which produces highly resilient computer modelled 3D homes.
The company, which is planning to build reconstruction facilities in Ukraine, promoted the potential use of its technology to promptly construct bullet and bomb-proof outposts/frontline bases, fortifications and possibly shelters.
Among the event’s high-profile attendees was former State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Rep. and current member of the House of Representatives, Kazuchika Iwata.
“This event featured exhibits from many startups in the fields of drones, AI and space – I felt it was a good match to our current defence challenges,” Iwata said in a post on X.