Japan To Enhance Military Capabilities To Counter China And North Korea

Tokyo : Amidst the growing tension with China and North Korea, Japan has shown signs of speeding up its military capabilities. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Government has proposed a military budget of $50 billion to the Parliament which includes fighter jets, drones, Anti- Ship missile system, Chinook helicopters and Air to ship missiles. It is being told that these ultramodern weaponry and its related systems will be purchased from Britain and the United States.

In the last few days, there have been aggressive movements by China in the ‘South China Sea‘ and ‘East China Sea’. Just few days ago, China had sent hundreds of fishing vessels along with armed coast guard vessels near the Japanese maritime border. Along with this, deployments of new air strips, radar equipment and fighter jets have started in the South China Sea. Chinese activities are a matter of growing concern for Japan. Against this backdrop, Japan has initiated procuring advanced fighter jets and other artillery.

Japan is going to buy ‘AAV-7’- Amphibious Assault craft from ‘BAE Systems’, a British military equipment manufacturing company. Japan intends to buy 11 Amphibious Assault craft which are effective on both land and sea. The Defense Ministry of Japan has put forward an expectation to its military equipment manufacturing companies to develop missiles that are capable to strike from ‘land to ship’ and ‘air to ship’.

Anticipating the growing threat from China and North Korea, Japanese government is planning to propose the procurement of fighter jets, helicopters, drones and ‘tilt rotor aircraft’ to the Parliament. There is also a proposal to buy a fleet of ‘F-35’ fighter jets, Chinook helicopters and ‘Global Hawk drone’ from the US. Also a need for new submarines has been put forward. There will be an upgradation of ‘(SM)-3 Block 2A ’ and the ‘Patriot’ advanced missile systems which were bought from the United States.

For this extensive military accomplishment, a proposal of staggering $50 billion has been presented. As compared to the previous year, an increase of 2.3% in the defense budget has been proposed. In the last 4 years, the government of Prime Minister Abe has consistently increased the defence budget. As per the information received, if the currently proposed hike is approved then it would be the 5th year in succession in which the defence budget has increased.

China’s aggressive movements, North Korea’s missile testings and the steps taken by Japan to enhance its military, suggest a possible trigger of a huge conflict soon in the Asia Pacific region.

#Japan present highest #DefenceBudget to House. All #APac nations on preparatory mode to ward-off Chinese aggression pic.twitter.com/EE2WblLQIW

— Samir Dattopadhye (@samirsinh189) September 3, 2016