Against a backdrop of China’s rapid military expansion and North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government approved record defence spending on Friday.
The budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1 will rise by 1.1% to 5.4 trillion yen ($47.18 billion), according to official Beijing data, which is less than a quarter of China’s military budget for this year.
The higher spending plan follows a meeting in April between US President Joe Biden and Japanese ex-PM Yoshihide Suga, in which Suga vow to bolster Japan’s defence capability.
In the draft budget, there is a provision for 128 billion yen for 12 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters, four of which are short take-off and vertical landing variants that operate off converted helicopter carriers.
In addition, the ministry has set aside 34 billion yen to strengthen cyber-attack defenses, and 79 billion yen for space-related projects, such as satellites and lasers that track targets beyond the atmosphere.
