Premised on Installation in the Ministry of Defense’s “General-Purpose Defense Drone,” Terra Drone Achieves Domestic Mass Production of the Critical Component That Serves as the Drone’s “Brain”
Tokyo, September 14, 2026 –Terra Drone Corporation (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Toru Tokushige; hereinafter “Terra Drone”) announces that it has developed in-house a domestically produced flight controller for defense drones, “Terra DFC,” and has established a mass-production system for it.
This flight controller was developed on the premise that it will be installed in the “general-purpose defense drone” scheduled for delivery to Japan’s Ministry of Defense. It is a core component responsible for a drone’s attitude control, motor control, sensor data processing, and flight control — in other words, the drone’s “brain.”
Terra Drone has integrated the necessary control functions compactly and simply onto a single circuit board, designed with mass production in mind. The company has already established a system capable of high-volume manufacturing and will deploy the controller as a key component supporting the domestic mass production of defense drones.
Background
Japan’s drone industry remains heavily dependent on components and aircraft sourced from overseas. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) materials, foreign-made products account for roughly 90% of Japan’s industrial-use drone market, and even when domestic manufacturers produce complete aircraft, they are known in some cases to source critical components — such as batteries, motors/ESCs, flight controllers, and video transmission modules — from overseas. [1]
Unmanned aerial vehicles have also been designated as a specified critical good under Japan’s Economic Security Promotion Act. Government materials indicate a policy of building a domestic mass-production base capable of supplying approximately 80,000 unmanned aerial vehicles and their critical components by 2030. [2][3]
For defense applications, the importance of a supply chain that does not depend on any specific country is even greater. Given geopolitical risk, export controls, potential supply disruptions, and cybersecurity concerns, it is essential to have a system in place that can manage and mass-produce not only the aircraft itself but also key components — including batteries, control systems, communications, and ground control — domestically.
Flight controllers in particular are a core component responsible for a drone’s flight control. Relying on foreign-made “black box” components can create constraints around specification changes, modifications to control software, log management, sensor integration, security verification, and emergency procurement of alternatives.
Features of This Flight Controller
The domestically developed flight controller was designed on the premise of installation in the Ministry of Defense’s “general-purpose defense drone,” with an emphasis on cost efficiency, compact size, mass-producibility, and ease of modification.
Key features include:
・Developed in-house on the premise of installation in the Ministry of Defense’s “general-purpose defense drone”
・A core circuit board responsible for attitude control, motor control, sensor processing, and flight control
・Integrates all necessary control functions compactly and simply onto a single circuit board
・Domestic quality control, modification, and supply systems established
・Future expansion to other airframes envisioned, including interceptor drones, reconnaissance drones, and drones for critical infrastructure protection
Going Forward
What matters for defense drones is not simply developing the airframe, but having a system in place that can continuously produce, modify, and operate the necessary quantities even during a contingency or under supply constraints.
Following its domestic battery business, Terra Drone has now established domestic production and mass-production systems for flight controllers as well. This strengthens the domestic supply base for two critical components of defense drones: the power system and the control system.
Going forward, in addition to installing this flight controller in the Ministry of Defense’s “general-purpose defense drone,” Terra Drone will also consider applying it to multiple other defense drones — including interceptor drones, reconnaissance drones, and drones for critical infrastructure protection — as it works to build a sustainable, domestically produced drone supply chain.
Sources
[1] Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, “Basic Direction of Efforts to Ensure a Stable Supply of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, etc.”
[2] Cabinet Office, “Specified Critical Goods Under the Economic Security Promotion Act”
[3] Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, “Project to Strengthen Supply Chain Resilience Contributing to Economic Security (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)”
Outlook
At this time, the company expects the impact of this matter on its consolidated financial results for the current fiscal year to be minor; however, should any matter requiring disclosure arise in the future, the company will announce it promptly.
This development represents an effort to extend technical assets cultivated in the defense business into the adjacent market of critical infrastructure protection, and the company believes it will contribute to the medium- to long-term growth of its defense business and drone solutions business.
Inquiries Regarding This Business
Business Website：https://terra-defense.com/
Contact form：https://terra-defense.com/contact/
Terra Drone Corporation, Defense Division, Morita
Email：defense@terra-drone.co.jp
Terra Drone Corporation
Under the mission “Unlock ‘X’ Dimensions” (fusing different dimensions to create a rich future), Terra Drone develops drones and provides related solutions. The company also focuses on developing and providing Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems to support safe and efficient drone operations, as well as developing UTM systems for flying cars targeted at overseas markets, contributing to a wide range of industries.
Terra Drone boasts a track record of more than 3,000 projects in the fields of surveying, inspection, agriculture, and flight management. In addition, the UTM systems provided through the Terra Drone Group have been implemented in 10 countries worldwide. As a result of these achievements, Terra Drone has ranked among the top two industrial drone service companies in the “Drone Service Companies World Ranking” published by Drone Industry Insights every year since 2019, and ranked No. 1 in the world in 2024. Furthermore, at the “Japan Startup Awards 2025” hosted by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Terra Drone received the “Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award” in recognition of its efforts to address social challenges in the land and infrastructure sector.
Looking ahead to the wider adoption of drones and flying cars, Terra Drone aims to solve social challenges as a “global platformer of the low-altitude economic zone.”
For more information: https://terra-drone.net/
Media Contact
PR Team, Terra Drone Corporation
Tel: +81-3-6419-7193
Email: pr@terra-drone.co.jp
