Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
Army branch of the Japanese armed forces
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| 2025 | Additional 18 Type 16 Infantry Combat Vehicles ordered, with plans to procure up to 218 vehicles total. |
| 2025 | Order placed for 6 Type 16 Reconnaissance Combat Vehicles, with plans to procure up to 90 vehicles total. |
| 2025 | Additional 8 Type 16 Armoured Mortar Carriers ordered, with plans to procure up to 83 vehicles total. |
| 2025 | Planned order of 14 Type 19 155 mm Wheeled self-propelled howitzers using the 2025 budget, with an eventual goal of acquiring up to 200 such howitzers. |
| January 15 2025 | Japan became the first among NATO's Indo-Pacific partners to inaugurate a full-time ambassador to NATO. |
| 2024 | First batch of 28 Patria AMVXP Armoured Personnel Carriers approved, budgeted at ¥20.0 billion. |
| 2024 | First orders made for Type 16 Armoured Mortar Carrier with planned delivery from 2027. |
| 2024 | First orders made for Type 16 Infantry Combat Vehicle with planned delivery from 2027. |
| 2024 | Budget allocation for 10 additional Type 10 main battle tanks, expanding the current inventory of 111 tanks. |
| 2024 | Order of 16 Type 19 155 mm Wheeled self-propelled howitzers using the 2024 budget. |
| 2024 | Ordered 182 Heckler & Koch HK417 (G28 E2) designated marksman rifles for $6.88 million, with an intention to purchase a total of 900 rifles. |
| 2024 | Ordered 514 Minimi MK3 light machine guns for $6.88 million, with a total planned purchase of 3,100 rifles. |
| 2023 | JGSDF personnel strength reached 150,700 soldiers, with General Yasunori Morishita serving as the Chief of Staff, headquartered in Ichigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo. |
| 2023 | First batch of 26 Patria AMVXP Armoured Personnel Carriers approved, budgeted at ¥13.6 billion. |
| 2023 | Order of 13 additional Subaru-Bell UH-2 utility helicopters made, bringing total confirmed purchases to 39. |
| 2023 | Current inventory of Type 16 MCV (wheeled tank destroyer) reached 100 units, with plans to ultimately acquire 250 vehicles, of which 240 have been ordered. |
| 2023 | Procurement of the Type 18 bulletproof vest begins as part of a new combat wear set, succeeding the Type 3 bulletproof vest. |
| April 6 2023 | A UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopter crashed. |
| 2022 | Fourth order of 7 Type 19 155 mm Wheeled self-propelled howitzers using the 2022 budget. |
| December 16 2022 | Japan announced a major policy shift by acquiring counterstrike capabilities and increasing defense budget to 2% of GDP. |
| May 5 2022 | Japan and the United Kingdom signed a defensive partnership to counter 'autocratic, coercive powers' in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. |
| 2021 | NHK reported Chinese military cyberattacks on nearly 200 Japanese research institutions and firms using a hacker group called Tick. |
| 2021 | Completion of memorial tracking for 1,964 National Police Reserve, National Security Forces, and Self-Defense Force personnel who died in the line of duty since 1950 |
| 2021 | Additional order of 20 Subaru-Bell UH-2 utility helicopters placed. |
| 2021 | Third order of 7 Type 19 155 mm Wheeled self-propelled howitzers using the 2021 budget. |
| September 2021 | The GSDF conducted nationwide drills involving 100,000 personnel, 20,000 vehicles, 120 aircraft, JMSDF, JASDF, and a U.S. Army landing ship. These were the largest GSDF exercises since 1993, aimed at strengthening defense capabilities in response to various situations. |
| 2020 | Second order of 7 Type 19 155 mm Wheeled self-propelled howitzers using the 2020 budget. |
| 2020 | Howa Type 20 assault rifle began replacing the Howa Type 89, with 28,057 rifles purchased between 2020-2024. |
| 2020 | H&K SFP9-M semi-automatic pistol began replacing the SIG Sauer P220, with 923 pistols purchased over three years. |
| November 17 2020 | Japan and Australia agreed in-principle to sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) to enhance strategic and defense cooperation. |
| September 10 2020 | Japan and India signed the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), a military pact allowing exchange of logistical support and supplies to counter Chinese aggression in Asia. |
| 2019 | Initial order of 6 Subaru-Bell UH-2 utility helicopters placed. |
| 2019 | Production of the Komatsu LAV armored car was completed. |
| 2019 | First order of 7 Type 19 155 mm Wheeled self-propelled howitzers using the 2019 budget. |
| October 21 2019 | A senior U.S. military officer in Tokyo called for Japan to reconsider its constitutional restrictions on offensive weaponry and to inform the public about threats from China and North Korea. |
| May 2019 | JMSDF participated in two quadrilateral naval exercises for the first time, including a sail-through in the South China Sea with naval ships of the United States, India, and the Philippines, and the La Pérouse exercise in the Bay of Bengal with France, United States, and Australia. |
| May 28 2019 | U.S. President Donald Trump inspected the Izumo-class warship during his visit to Japan, becoming the first U.S. president to inspect a Japanese warship and supporting Japan's active role in Pacific defense. |
| April 19 2019 | Japan and the United States confirmed that cyberattacks are covered by their bilateral security treaty, agreeing to increase defense cooperation in cyber, space, and electronic warfare. |
| April 19 2019 | The Japanese government approved the first ever JSDF dispatch to a non-UN peacekeeping operation, with JGSDF officers monitoring the cease-fire between Israel and Egypt at the Multinational Force and Observers command in the Sinai peninsula (until November 30, 2019). |
| March 2019 | The Ministry of Defense established its first regional cyber protection unit in the Western Army of the JGSDF to safeguard defense communications from cyber attacks. |
| 2018 | Training-Evaluation, Education, Research & Development Command was created by integrating the former Ground Research & Development Command and JGSDF Staff College. |
| October 29 2018 | Japan and the United States conducted their largest military exercise, Keen Sword, involving 57,000 sailors, marines, and airmen from both countries and Canada. |
| October 27 2018 | The JGSDF and Indian Army conducted their first joint military exercise in Mizoram, focusing on anti-terror drills and bilateral cooperation, involving 60 Japanese and Indian officers. |
| October 4 2018 | Japan christened the Oryu submarine, its first submarine powered by lithium-ion batteries, developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. |
| October 2 2018 | British troops of the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) conducted joint exercises with Japanese GSDF soldiers in Oyama, Shizuoka prefecture to improve strategic partnership and security cooperation. |
| April 7 2018 | Japan activated the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, its first marine unit since World War II. |
| March 27 2018 | Major Command was reorganized from the Central Readiness Force, establishing its headquarters in Nerima, Tokyo. |
| February 5 2018 | An AH-64 Apache attack helicopter crashed, reducing the fleet size. |
| 2017 | The Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy became the official policy of Japan and the United States. |
| 2017 | Completed procurement of 462 Type 96 Heavy mortars from France, manufactured under license by Howa. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Military history of Japan, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, List of equipment of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force & Japan Self-Defense Forces, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.