27.47-T.-Yen Budget Eyed for Japan’s Next Defense Program

December 13, 2018

Tokyo--The Japanese government plans to set the budget for its next medium-term defense buildup program from fiscal 2019 at a record high of 27.47 trillion yen, informed sources said Thursday.

The figure for the five-year program will be up from the 25.16 trillion yen for the defense program for fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2005, which has so far been an all-time high.

The new program will also include a policy of aiming to reduce procurement costs by about 2 trillion yen, according to the sources.

The Fiscal System Council, which advises the finance minister, has called for setting a goal of rationalizing defense equipment procurement in the next five years by a total of one trillion yen or more.

The budget level for the upcoming program also compares with some 24.67 trillion yen for the current program covering the five years to fiscal 2018. While the current program includes a rationalization goal of about 700 billion yen, the Defense Ministry has so far saved 771 billion yen in costs.

The new program will call for, among other things, revamping the Izumo, the Maritime Self-Defense Force's largest destroyer, to a de facto aircraft carrier, introducing cutting-edge F-35B stealth fighters capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, and deploying the Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system, the sources said.

Of the Self-Defense Forces' current F-15 fighter fleet, the ministry plans to replace 99 units for which renovations are difficult with the U.S. F-35 series.

Of the new fighters, about 60 units will be from the F-35A, designed for use by the Air Force, and the rest from the F-35B, for the Marine Corps.

Some 20 F-35Bs will be purchased under the next defense buildup program, according to the sources.

The Aegis Ashore system, as well as the F-35 fighters, will be procured from the United States under the country's Foreign Military Sales program, leading to a sharp rise in Japan's FMS-related spending.

As equipment procurement under the FMS program is bound to be relatively costly to the advantage of the U.S. side, the new defense program will clarify Tokyo's policy of calling on Washington to step up rationalization efforts, the sources said. Jiji Press