TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s defense ministry is requesting a nearly 12% budget increase that includes two warships with advanced radar and long-range cruise missiles as it further fortifies the nation’s military in the face of North Korean threats and Chinese military advancement.
How to finance and justify the growing military spending is uncertain in a country with steeply declining births and increasing costs of caring for its aged population.
Japan earlier had ordered the SPY-7 for land use but was forced to scrap the plan due to safety concerns in the regions that would host them.
In the 2024 budget request, the Defense Ministry is seeking 755 billion yen ($5.17 billion) to develop and acquire “standoff” capability to strike distant targets, especially for the defense of Japan’s southwestern islands, the area feared to become the frontline in case of a Taiwan emergency.
For overall missile defense, the ministry requests 1.27 trillion yen ($8.69 billion) for spending that incudes the Aegis-equipped warships.
Japan’s government is preparing to ease its arms transfer policy, which currently bans export of lethal weapons, to allow some of them.
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