Japan’s Minister of Defense Shinjirō Koizumi posed with a cardboard drone on Monday during a meeting with drone manufacturer AirKamuy. The AirKamuy 150 is a cheap pre-fab cardboard drone meant to die on the battlefield and it comes shipped in a flatpack like an IKEA shelf.
According to Koizumi, Japan’s military has already begun to use the cardboard drone. “The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is already utilizing them as targets,” he said in a post on X. “In aiming to become the Self-Defense Forces that makes the most extensive use of unmanned assets, including drones, in the world, strengthening collaboration with startups enthusiastic about the defense sector is indispensable.”
In an interview with Japan Times last year, AirKamuy CEO Yamaguchi Takumi said that each of the rain-resistant cardboard drones costs about $2,000 and 500 of them could fit in a standard shipping container when flatpacked. Assembling them takes around five to 10 minutes. Once constructed, its electric motor will carry it around 50 miles or 80 minutes.
Speaking at the Singapore Airshow in February, AirKamuy Chief Engineer Naoki Morita said that the cardboard drone was mainly envisioned as a counter-drone device. The idea is to fly a swarm of drones in front of other targets and absorb blows. “This is regular cardboard, so no special foam board or material, so every cardboard manufacturer can make this plane,” he said.
But other uses are possible. Naoki said that the AirKamuy 150 could carry around three pounds, which is just enough to carry a small amount of supplies or munitions to a target and it’s not hard to imagine swarms of incendiary cardboard drones slamming into targets in the near future.
From Ukraine to Iran, drones have shaped the modern battlefield. In the war between Russia and Ukraine, cheap and nimble aerial drones have been used to kill combatants and spy on the frontlines. Earlier this month, Ukraine claimed that Russian soldiers had been surrendering to ground drones. In the war between Iran and America, Iran’s cheap $35,000 Shahed drones have been so effective that the US ripped off the design for its own LUCAS (Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System) drones.
One of the primary things driving drone innovation is cost. These semi-autonomous flying missiles are tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than most munitions on the market. And there’s a lot to love about the AirKamuy 150 for a military operating on a budget. “There is strong demand for low cost drones that can operate in large numbers and over long distances, Yamaguchi told NHK World-Japan. “This model can be manufactured at any cardboard plant, ensuring high mass production capability and a robust supply chain.”
