Japan Plans To Sharply Increase Defense Spending To $279 Bln Over Next 5 Years - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2022) Japan is planning to sharply increase its defense spending over the next five years to 40 trillion Yen ($279 billion), the Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, citing government officials.

According to a senior government officials, the spending would not reach 50 trillion yen, but would exceed 40, the news agency reported. In comparison, the defense costs for five years through fiscal 2023 are specified as only 27.47 trillion yen.

This new plan reflects the pledge of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to reinforce the country's defense capabilities, by almost doubling the spending to 2% of GDP, which is a benchmark for NATO members.

For a long time Japan has capped its annual defense budget at 1% of GDP, amounting to about 5 trillion yen. If the new plan is adopted, then the defense budget will increase by 1 trillion yen per year starting 2024.

On September 1, Japanese defense ministry announced that it requested a record-high military budget for 2023 of almost 5.

6 trillion yen. This sum only contains the costs that the ministry was prepared to disclose. Experts and media believe that the actual requested budget stands at 6.5 trillion yen. Japan's defense budget for 2022 is 5.4 trillion yen, which was also record-high.

The country aims to modify the Japanese ground-to-ship missiles, the so-called Type 12 anti-ship missiles. The ministry plans to increase flight range of the Type 12 so they can become part of a system that allows targeting bases in China or North Korea while staying outside the reach of its weapons. Additionally, the strengthening of missile and air defense is planned. Funds will be allocated for research in the field of hypersonic missiles interception, as well as for the development of drones, the development of electronic warfare and cybersecurity.