In this fortnightly online column, ADM journalist Corey Lee Bell covers defence news across Japan and the Republic of Korea. Japanese AI/neurotech start-up Araya has successfully undertaken proof-of-concept (PoC) trials on unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) autonomous target tracking capabilities, a company press release stated on 27 April. The study, overseen by Japan’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency’s (ATLA) Ground Systems Research Center (GCRC), was completed in only three months, following the company’s successful 62 million yen (approx. A $550,000) tender bid in mid-January. The project affirmed the core requisite capabilities set out in the tender’s specification document, according to Araya’s statement. These included image recognition for targets such as personnel and vehicles, recognising targets after a break in visual contact, forecasting target movements based on previous behavior, generating suitable routes in off-road terrain, and retaining a stable distance from the target. Araya researchers also positively appraised the potential of using UGV ready to equip technologies, including cameras and compact light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, to autonomously generate mapping and other environmental data. The development follows ATLA commissioning Japanese AI start-up Abeja for research on visual language action (VLA) models for UGVs’ autonomous navigation in late January. It also comes after months of intensive UGV-related research in the GCRC, including work on the use of LiDAR and simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) to enable UGVs to operate in GNSS-denied off-road environments. Progress by the GCRC led to ATLA successfully submitting a funding request for “Research on a UAV-teamed, AI driven offroad unmanned ground vehicle (UGV)” capable of multiple roles including sentry, reconnaissance and combat support to the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD), which supported the proposal in its 2025 Policy Evaluation Report. The MoD’s 2026 budget overview, published shortly after, listed research on a UAV-teamed “AI-driven off-road UGV” as one