Japan’s Defense Ministry on Friday requested a record 8.5 trillion yen budget for fiscal year 2025, Kyodo News reported on Aug. 30.
The growth in applications is explained by the objective. “Improving security of remote islands by deploying unmanned aerial vehicles amid growing Chinese military activity”.
The request exceeds the record initial budget of 7.9 trillion yen for fiscal 2024, which ends next March, and is in line with the country’s five-year plan to increase defense spending by 43 trillion yen through fiscal 2027, developed in response to the rapidly changing environment in the security sector.
According to the ministry, unmanned systems, including aircraft and underwater vehicles, are considered innovative tools that can radically change the situation and provide unilateral superiority while minimizing human losses.
The department also wants to use its budget to strengthen its defense capabilities by quickly acquiring foreign missiles and expanding its own production base for missiles capable of hitting distant targets.
The request will also fund small satellite constellations that will have the target detection and tracking capabilities needed to attack invading enemy forces beyond their range.
The annual defense budget has long been capped at about 1 percent of gross domestic product, but the government plans to double spending according to updated key security documents in 2022 “in response to rising security threats from Russia and North Korea.”
Japan is one of NATO’s partners in the Indo-Pacific region, along with Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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