--- title: "Anduril in Talks to Turn a Nissan Plant Into a Military Drone Factory in Japan" description: "U.S. defense-tech firm Anduril is in early talks to acquire Nissan's Oppama assembly plant near Tokyo and convert it into a military drone factory, Reuters reported — a deal that would turn a symbol of Japan's postwar car industry into an arms plant, near the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed carrier group." category: "Tech" category_url: https://boursel.com/category/tech author: "Priya Venkatesan" published: 2026-06-25T08:36:00.000Z updated: 2026-06-25T08:36:00.000Z canonical: https://boursel.com/article/anduril-in-talks-to-turn-a-nissan-plant-into-a-military-drone-factory-in-japan tags: ["anduril", "nissan", "japan", "drones", "defense"] --- # Anduril in Talks to Turn a Nissan Plant Into a Military Drone Factory in Japan U.S. defense-tech firm Anduril is in early talks to acquire Nissan's Oppama assembly plant near Tokyo and convert it into a military drone factory, Reuters reported — a deal that would turn a symbol of Japan's postwar car industry into an arms plant, near the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed carrier group. A factory that has built cars for Japan since the 1960s may have a very different future. The U.S. defense-technology company Anduril Industries is in early talks to acquire Nissan's Oppama assembly plant, south of Tokyo, and turn it into a site for building military drones, [Reuters reported](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/exclusiveus-defence-firm-anduril-in-talks-for-nissan-plant-to-build-drones-in-japan-sources-say-4759729), citing three people familiar with the matter. ## What's reported The discussions are preliminary, the sources told Reuters: Anduril has not set how much of the site it would need, has submitted no price, and would still need orders from Japan's military to justify a purchase. Nissan declined to say whether it was in talks with Anduril and noted it is speaking with other potential buyers; Anduril said it was "exploring opportunities to strengthen local production." The Oppama plant opened in 1961, has produced about 18 million vehicles — including the Leaf, Nissan's first mass-market electric car, in 2010 — and is slated to close in 2028 under a sweeping restructuring. Its location is strategically notable: the coastal site sits close to Yokosuka, headquarters of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force and home to the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft-carrier strike group. ## Who Anduril is Anduril was founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey — the entrepreneur who created the Oculus virtual-reality headset — and builds drones, counter-drone systems and the AI software that ties military sensors and weapons together. Unlike traditional defense contractors that build to government specifications, Anduril develops and sells its own products, and argues it can make autonomous systems faster and more cheaply than the established primes. ## Why Japan The talks come as Japan ramps up defense spending and tries to build more weapons at home. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government has prioritized expanding domestic defense manufacturing amid concern that a crisis over Taiwan could draw Japan in and quickly deplete its weapons stocks. Anduril opened a Tokyo office in late 2025 and has built a prototype drone, "Kizuna," from Japanese-made components to show it can meet local-content rules — a signal it is courting Japanese military contracts. ## A dual-use shift The potential deal fits a broader pattern: carmaking capacity — precise, large-scale and heavily automated — is increasingly eyed for defense work, since auto plants are built for exactly the kind of high-volume, quality-controlled assembly that drones and autonomous systems need. Anduril has pursued the same logic at home, announcing a large U.S. factory to mass-produce autonomous systems. For Nissan, which is cutting jobs and capacity after a bruising stretch, a buyer for a plant it is closing — and a proposal to retrain its workers — carries obvious appeal. The caveats are real. The report rests on anonymous sources, neither company has confirmed talks on the record, and Anduril still needs Japanese military orders before any purchase could proceed, meaning the plan could stall even if the discussions advance. But the very fact that an American drone-maker is weighing a Japanese car plant captures how fast the defense-industrial map is being redrawn around the Indo-Pacific. ## Sources - [Exclusive: U.S. defence firm Anduril in talks for Nissan plant to build drones in Japan, sources say](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/exclusiveus-defence-firm-anduril-in-talks-for-nissan-plant-to-build-drones-in-japan-sources-say-4759729) - [US defense tech startup Anduril eyes manufacturing in Japan](https://asia.nikkei.com/business/startups/us-defense-tech-startup-anduril-eyes-manufacturing-in-japan) - [Anduril expands to Japan, advancing its mission to transform allied defense](https://www.anduril.com/news/anduril-expands-to-japan-advancing-its-mission-to-transform-allied-defense)