The Japanese Ministry of Defense is to seek a record budget of ￥5.16 trillion (US$51.5 billion) for the next fiscal year, as tension rises in the East China Sea and North Korea steps up its missile threat, a government official with direct knowledge of the plan said.
The hike of 2.3 percent over this year’s budget of ￥5.05 trillion marks the fifth successive annual increase sought by the ministry, which is keen to bolster Japan’s defenses as North Korea upgrades its ballistic missile technology.
However, the budget increase seemed insufficient, one security analyst said.
“I personally think it is not enough,” said Takashi Kawakami, a security expert at Tokyo’s Takushoku University.
“The security environment surrounding Japan is severe, due to neighboring North Korea and China,” Kawakami added.
In line with usual practice, Japan is this month to formally unveil budget requests for its defense and other ministries for the fiscal year ending March 2018.
The ministry’s request covers the ￥100 billion cost to upgrade Japan’s MIM-104F (PAC-3) missile defense system, said the source, who declined to be identified, as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Such an upgrade would roughly double the missile system’s range to more than 30km, other sources have said.
The budget proposal also includes the cost of production of the Block IIA version of the RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 system being jointly developed with the US to shoot down missiles at higher altitudes, the source added.
The ministry is also to allocate funds to acquire an upgraded version of the F-35 stealth fighter, made by US-based Lockheed Martin, the source said.
Also included in the budget request is the cost of strengthening the Japan Coast Guard in the southern islands of Miyakojima and Amami Oshima, to allay worries over China’s more assertive activities in the East China Sea, the source said.
Tension mounted this month after a growing number of China Coast Guard and other vessels sailed near disputed islets in the East China Sea.
Japan, China and South Korea are in talks to hold a meeting of their foreign ministers next week, Japanese media said this week.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs admitted the three were in talks, but revealed no date for the meeting.
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