Japan Defense Ministry Requests Record $52 Billion Budget
Japan Defense Ministry Requests Record $52 Billion Budget
(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Defense Ministry is seeking a record $52 billion budget for the year starting in April to counter increasing security threats posed by China and North Korea.
If approved, the defense budget will have risen for nine straight years. The plan released on Wednesday doesn’t include funds needed to overhaul Japan’s missile defense plans after then-Defense Minister Taro Kono announced in June that the deployment of Lockheed Martin’s Aegis Ashore missile defense system would be canceled due to cost and safety concerns.
Kono’s replacement, Nobuo Kishi, said last week the government was now considering a plan to install the components of the system on a mobile platform at sea.
Another item not included in the proposal was funding for a military option being studied by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to allow preemptive strikes on enemy bases, which could include bolstering the country’s offensive missile capability.
Some of the items included in the budget request are as follows:
- 58.7 billion yen ($555 million) for research into a next-generation fighter plane.
- 40.2 billion yen for four Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter aircraft; 26.4 billion yen for two vertical take-off F-35B fighters.
- 69.1 billion yen for the construction of a submarine.
- 15.3 billion yen for development of an anti-aircraft jammer; 3.3 billion yen for testing an anti-drone laser weapon.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.