Tokyo: Japan approved its largest-ever defence budget for the next fiscal year yesterday, as hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks to strengthen surveillance of territorial waters in the face of a continuing spat with China.
For the year to March 2016, Tokyo will spend 4.98 trillion yen ($41.97bn), the government said, indicating a budget rise for the third straight year. “This is the largest budget ever,” said a ministry official, adding the highest allocation previously was 4.96 trillion yen earmarked in 2002.
The trend reflects Abe’s wish to build a more active military, a push supporters say is in response to the raising of tensions with China, with which Tokyo is at odds over the ownership of islands in the East China Sea. Japan is increasingly wary of Beijing, which is seen by several countries in the region as becoming aggressive over various sovereignty claims.
Among items on the Japanese defence ministry’s shopping list are 20 “P-1” maritime patrol aircraft, with a combined price tag of 350bn yen. It will also buy five V-22 “Osprey” — crossover aircraft along with six high-tech F-35A stealth fighters.
The ministry is looking to obtain a fleet of “Global Hawk” drones over a five-year period, and part of the purchase will come out of this budget. It is also buying 30 units of amphibious vehicles and one E-2D airborne early-warning aircraft to be assigned to protect the Nansei Shoto islands.
AFP
