A Vision 60 robodog operates alongside Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops at Narashino Training Area outside Tokyo, Jan. 11, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
NARASHINO TRAINING AREA, Japan — Japanese soldiers showed off doglike robots during airborne training alongside troops from the United States and 13 other nations Sunday.
The four-legged machines embarked with members of Japan’s 1st Airborne Brigade, who landed in a pair of CH-47 Chinook helicopters at this training area in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo.
It was the first time robodogs have participated in the annual drill, according to an announcer at the event.
The robots and troops maneuvered in front of a crowd of 10,000 invited into the training area and gathered on high ground to enjoy the action.
One of the mechanical canines ambled up a hill and hunkered down next to a tank in front of dignitaries that included Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and U.S. Army Japan commander Brig. Gen. James Dooghan.
Koizumi had just leaped from a 36-foot-high tower to simulate a parachute jump, according to a press announcement from his ministry.
The quadrupeds are Vision 60 ground robots manufactured by Ghost Robotics, a Philadelphia firm, Japan’s Sankei Shimbun reported Sunday.
The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force employed the robots for search efforts and to deliver relief supplies following the Noto Peninsula earthquake on Jan. 1, 2024, according to the manufacturer’s website. The magnitude-7.6 temblor killed more than 690 people and severely damaged or destroyed more than 1,300 homes.
A Vision 60 robodog operates alongside Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops at Narashino Training Area outside Tokyo, Jan. 11, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi takes part in a multinational exercise at Narashino Training Area outside Tokyo, Jan. 11, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
In the United States, Air Force security forces have employed the same robots at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., according to an Air Force news release from April 27, 2023.
“The Vision 60 is a quadrupedal urban and all environment ground robot, or robodog, and capable of maneuvering through austere environments with minimal difficulty,” the release states.
The durable, 112-pound robots can operate for more than three hours at a time, according to Ghost Robotics. They can function in temperatures from minus 40 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit and will work while submerged in several feet of water.
The demonstration in Chiba prefecture — not far from Narita International Airport — included flyovers by Air Force C-130J Super Hercules airlifters but a planned parachute jump was canceled due to high winds.
There were also maneuvers by Japanese tanks and UH-1J Huey helicopters during the drill.
Officials got a closeup view of a mock knife fight between a pair of heavily camouflaged Japanese snipers and some balaclava-wearing bad guys.
The airborne training has been held annually since 1974. This year’s drill also included soldiers from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom, according to a Dec. 5 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force news release.
American troops take part in a multinational exercise at Narashino Training Area outside Tokyo, Jan. 11, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers rappel from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a multinational exercise at Narashino Training Area outside Tokyo, Jan. 11, 2026. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.
