Thursday’s Sankei front-paged an MOD plan to develop amphibious vehicles for the GSDF, noting that some 4 to 5 billion yen will be earmarked in FY2017 with the goal of using the vehicles for operations to take back remote islands controlled by enemies. Although the ministry has been procuring U.S.-made AAV7s since FY2013, it has concluded that more advanced vehicles will be necessary for effective amphibious operations. The daily added that the ministry is also aiming to start discussions with the U.S. for a possible joint study on such vehicles within several years.