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Japan ruling party seeks drastic defense budget rise amid China threat By Reito Kaneko, KYODO NEWS - 5 hours ago - 22:43 | All, Japan A joint defense panel of Japans ruling Liberal Democratic Party approved a draft proposal Monday for the government to "drastically" increase the countrys defense budget in the face of the increased security threat posed by China in the East and South China seas. The move seeking...

An Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jet takes off during a training exercise. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) Skyrocketing costs have forced the Defense Ministry to drastically revise its strategy to protect outlying islands against moves by China. Ministry officials had initially hoped to retrofit F-15 fighter jets so that they could fire long-range cruise missiles to defend the Nansei island chain that stretches southwest from Okinawa Prefecture. But expenses in the initial preparatory stage of...

17 February 2021 Author: Yuki Tatsumi, Stimson Center Japan’s 2021 defence budget is set to be its largest ever, continuing a near decade-long trend set in motion by former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Under Abe’s watch, Japan has increased its defence budget every year since 2005. The uptick in spending has continued since Abe left office in September 2020 — last December, the Ministry of Defense released its revised budget request for the 2021 fiscal year totalling approximately 5.3 trill...

By HANA KUSUMOTO | STARS AND STRIPES Published: December 21, 2020 TOKYO — Japan’s Cabinet approved the nation’s largest-ever defense budget on Monday, about 5.34 trillion yen, or $52 billion, for the next fiscal year. The proposed budget for fiscal year 2021, starting in April, is a 0.5% increase over this year’s budget of 5.32 trillion yen, or $51.5 billion, and is the ninth consecutive increase in the national defense budget. The budget also allocated 293 billion yen, about $2.8 bi...

Japan to develop new long-range missiles [The Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo / Asia News Network] Dec. 9—The government plans to develop a long-range cruise missile that can strike beyond the range of enemy weapons, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. The move is part of a new missile defense policy to be drawn up by the end of this year, under which the government will improve the Type 12 surface-to-ship missile so that it can be launched from naval vessels and aircraft, and strike ground targets. The ...