A plant that has produced some 18 million vehicles since 1961 could be repurposed to build military systems. According to Reuters, US defense company Anduril Industries is in talks to acquire Nissan’s Oppama site near Tokyo, with the aim of turning it into a hub for the production of military drones.
No final decision has been made yet, but a deal would mark the conversion of one of Japan’s main postwar automotive plants — long a symbol of the country’s industrial rebirth — into a military facility.
Anduril aims to build military drones in Japan with Nissan
The discussions over the Oppama site fit into the strategy of the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, which aims to strengthen the country’s defense-industrial capacity in response to rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific and concerns about a potential crisis in the Taiwan Strait. China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, has not ruled out the use of force to bring the island back under its control, fueling unease across the region.
A deal between Anduril and Nissan could nonetheless draw political and social criticism in Japan, where the debate over gradually moving past the constitutional pacifism of the post-World War II era remains sensitive. Converting civilian infrastructure to weapons production would also be a potentially controversial step in the eyes of the public.
The matter also raises questions about industrial control, since US military equipment manufactured in Japan is generally produced by local companies under license, following long-established arrangements.
Takaichi’s security strategy and the state of the talks
The Takaichi government is expected to unveil a new national security strategy by the end of the year, one that could include accelerated investment in drones, ammunition, and weapons systems, along with measures to strengthen the defense sector’s production capacity.
Nissan is reportedly also weighing other potential buyers for the Oppama plant. For Anduril, an acquisition would be contingent on securing contracts from the Japanese government. The company is not known to have submitted a formal offer yet, and for now neither Nissan nor Anduril has commented in detail on the talks.
The Japanese automaker has also confirmed that it has not yet decided the plant’s future. The facility is slated to close in 2028 as part of a capacity-reduction plan. Anduril said it would not comment on «market speculation», but added that it works with Japan and is exploring opportunities to strengthen local production.
The Oppama plant, from the Leaf to drones
The Oppama plant, which opened in 1961, sits about an hour by train south of Tokyo and has produced roughly 18 million vehicles. It was also the production site for the Leaf, Nissan’s first mass-market electric car, launched in 2010.
Last year, Nissan announced the plant’s closure as part of a plan to cut production capacity by about one million vehicles, with its roughly 2,400 employees to be relocated to other plants in Japan.
Anduril is reportedly weighing several options for reusing the site, which spans about 1.7 million square meters (roughly 18 million square feet) and includes research, testing, and port infrastructure. The company has also signaled a willingness to retrain part of the workforce for defense-equipment production.
Editor’s note
This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by P. F. on June 26, 2026 as «La società di difesa Andruil punta a costruire droni militari in Giappone. Accordo con Nissan». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.
