Follow up to LLRX article – One‑way attack drones: Low‑cost, high‑tech weapons ‘democratize’ precision warfare – See also Tom’s Hardware: “Japan is deploying ultra-cheap cardboard drones built for swarm warfare and expendable combat missions. Japan’s Minister of Defense, Shinjirō Koizumi, said in a post on X on Monday that the country had begun using expendable cardboard drones developed by Japanese drone manufacturer AirKamuy. Speaking during a meeting with the startup, the minister confirmed that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force was already utilizing the company’s low-cost drones as aerial targets as Japan expands its use of unmanned systems across its military. The drone, known as the AirKamuy 150, is a lightweight fixed-wing platform built primarily from corrugated cardboard with a water-resistant coating. Unlike conventional military drones that rely on expensive composite materials and specialized aerospace manufacturing, the AirKamuy 150 is designed around extreme affordability and mass production. Perhaps, the drone’s most important feature is its cost. The AirKamuy 150 reportedly costs around $2,000 to $2,500 per unit. By military standards, that is extremely low. Conventional military reconnaissance and loitering drones can cost anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on their role and sophistication. Even Iran’s Shahed drones, which became heavily associated with the rise of low-cost attritional drone warfare during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are estimated to cost roughly $20,000 to $50,000 each — potentially more than ten times the cost of the AirKamuy drone…”