Japan is reportedly looking to purchase second-hand US C-17 military transport planes as part of its massive military modernization drive.
Kyodo News reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba informed U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting in February 2025 that Japan is interested in purchasing the C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft for the Self-Defense Forces.
Ishiba met with Trump at the White House on February 7 and reportedly communicated Tokyo’s willingness to buy the planes. According to the report, the development comes amid persisting US pressure to boost defense spending.
The proposal was purportedly welcomed by the United States, which has exhorted its allies to pledge at least 5% of their respective GDPs to defense spending.
Japan, which has historically depended on Washington for its defense, spent an abysmal 1% of GDP on defense earlier.
However, it has now significantly raised its spending and launched a massive military modernization drive to combat the external security threats posed by the trinity of China, North Korea, and Russia. Tokyo passed a record defense budget of 8.7 trillion yen (US$58 billion), a 9.4% increase from the last time in January.
Following the meeting with Ishiba last month, Trump hailed Japan’s commitment to increase its defense spending at a joint news conference, stating, “We look forward to seeing even more.”
Ishiba, a former defense minister, has been a proponent of purchasing C-17 aircraft due to their better transport capabilities compared to the SDF’s domestically produced C-2 aircraft. He has also reportedly instructed the Japanese Defense Ministry staff to research the proposal. However, a formal request is yet to be made.
According to the sources, if the acquisition plan is carried out, Japan will receive used C-17s as Boeing no longer produces them.
The potential purchase comes amid a burgeoning threat from China. Japan’s relationship with China is fraught with tensions over territorial disputes. The East China Sea’s Senkaku Islands, which are governed by Japan and claimed by China, have long been a source of tension between the two Asian neighbors. Chinese coast guard ships have frequently entered Japanese territorial seas near the uninhabited islets.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ramped up its military presence in the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea. In August last year, a Chinese Y-9 spy plane entered Japanese airspace in an unprecedented development. China explained that it was unintentional, but it has left a lasting impression on Tokyo.
Earlier, Japan decided to buy the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone in December 2024 to enhance its combat capability.
The C-17 Globemaster will not only provide the Japanese Self-Defense Air Force (JSDAF) with superior transport capability but also arm it with a heavy aircraft that can fire cruise missiles and doubles up as a bomber.
C-17 Globemaster Aircraft Will Bolster JSDAF
Manufactured by Boeing, the multi-service C-17 is a high-wing, four-engine, T-tailed military transport aircraft that can take soldiers, supplies, and heavy equipment straight to small airfields in difficult terrain anywhere in the world.
“The massive, sturdy, long-haul aircraft tackles distance, destination and heavy, oversized payloads in unpredictable conditions. It has delivered cargo in every worldwide operation since the 1990s,” says Boeing’s official website.
The C-17 Globemaster III has been deployed to carry out strategic and rapid fuel and supply deliveries worldwide. The C-17 is a behemoth with a payload capacity of nearly 171,000 pounds. It can transport armored vehicles, trucks, and trailers, and airdrop more than 100 paratroopers and their accompanying equipment.
Because of its externally blown flap system, the C-17 can land on an airfield as small as 3,000 feet and only 90 feet wide. This system provides extra lift for a steep, low-speed final approach and low landing speeds.
It can do precise ground maneuvers in congested areas and narrow taxiways, including a 180° star turn in 80 feet. A fully loaded C-17 can park and back up by itself using directed flow thrust reversers to taxi rearward up a maximum grade slope of 2 percent. They can also operate safely on unpaved ground since their engines have features that prevent dust and debris from getting inside.
The C-17 is powered by four Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 turbofans.
In addition to performing airlifting and logistical operations, these aircraft can be used in combat. For instance, during a major demonstration exercise in 2020, a USAF C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft used a palletized system to simulate the firing of several AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff cruise missiles.
The C-17 could quickly engage many targets over a wide region by utilizing its large load-carrying capacity in conjunction with palletized launch systems.
In February 2024, the US Missile Defense Agency released a video of the C-17 Globemaster III firing a surrogate ballistic missile from its cargo bay and performing an anti-ballistic missile test.
In the first phase, the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft launched a mock mid-range ballistic missile from its cargo hold. The second phase of this test involved shooting a 3 Block IIA Standard Missile (SM-3 Blk IIA), which intercepted the same medium-range ballistic missile target.
According to previous reports, Japan has also been exploring the option of using its Kawasaki C-2 tactical transport aircraft to drop stand-off missiles. The plan is to improve Japan’s defenses and ability to conduct counter-strike operations. With the assistance of the United States, the same could likely be implemented on the C-17 Globemaster III.
Thus, it is safe to say that the C-17 can even be turned into missile trucks. Given its size, it can carry three times as many long-range precision munitions as a B-52 bomber.
The idea is to convert these planes into arsenal planes in a high-end conflict, potentially with China. Even though Japan has never explicitly stated that it would participate in the conflict between the US and China, there is conjecture that it would be drawn into any conflict that involves Taiwan.
As the threat of a war in the region lingers, Japan is ramping up capability. The potential purchase of the C-17 is one step in that direction.
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