Strengthening self-defense: Japan intends to increase the military budget

21
Strengthening self-defense: Japan intends to increase the military budget
Ceremonial calculation of the Self-Defense Forces

In connection with the deterioration of the military-political situation in the region and the emerging confrontation with neighboring states, the Japanese leadership plans to increase defense spending. It is proposed to gradually increase the defense budget, and by fiscal year 2027 it will increase by 50%, and its size relative to gross domestic product will double. Due to such measures, it is proposed to carry out a general modernization of the Self-Defense Forces, incl. develop a number of promising programs.

Financing Issues


The Japanese constitution and legislation in general impose serious restrictions on the construction and development of the Self-Defense Forces. The maximum number of troops has been set, certain types of weapons and certain activities are prohibited. In addition, since the 1s, there has been an unspoken rule that defense spending should not exceed XNUMX% of GDP.



Nevertheless, the general growth of the economy made it possible to gradually increase the nominal size of the military budget, while remaining within the required limits. So, in FY2012. Japan's military budget was 4,645 trillion yen, and for FY2022. allocated 5,37 trillion - 15% more. At the same time, in 2020, for the first time in half a century, the budget exceeded the unspoken limit of 1% of GDP, although by only a few hundredths of a percent.

Depending on the exchange rate in different years, the dollar equivalent of the Japanese budget fluctuated between 42-58 billion dollars. Thus, this year it does not exceed 50 billion. With this level of spending, Japan has consistently ranked among the top ten countries with the largest defense spending.


One of the first F-35s transferred to Japan

In general, this level of funding corresponded to the current goals and objectives. It made it possible to maintain the general indicators of the Self-Defense Forces at the required level, to carry out the necessary military construction, to carry out rearmament, etc. However, now the Japanese government plans to develop the Self-Defense Forces more actively, and therefore additional funding is required.

Rising costs


In November 2021, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Japan should seriously increase its defense capability and expand the combat capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces. Later, in January 2022, the Prime Minister spoke about his intentions to revise the defense doctrine, as well as gradually increase the military budget. In April, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party proposed bringing military spending to 2% of GDP.

Over the past months, the Japanese government has been considering this proposal and preparing a future solution. At the end of November, the Prime Minister officially announced his intention to increase the defense budget. According to the new plans, spending on the Self-Defense Forces will increase annually until FY2027. not reach the required level of 2% of GDP. The Ministry of Finance and the military department were instructed to work out specific measures to solve this problem.


Helicopter destroyer "Izumo"

The first steps in this direction have already been taken. Japan is currently working on a new budget for the next fiscal year starting April 1st. The Ministry of Defense has not yet fully formulated its requirements, but has already requested approx. 5,6 trillion yen (about $40 billion). Obviously, in the future, his requests will increase. As a result, the military budget for FY2023 will increase by a few percent compared to the current one.

It became known how the Japanese government plans to find additional funding for the Self-Defense Forces. General information on this subject on December 12 was disclosed by the Kyodo edition. With reference to its sources in the country's leadership, it writes about the possible use of part of the funds collected earlier for the restoration of regions after the disasters of 2011.

In addition, it is proposed to increase the corporate income tax, currently at 23,2%, as well as the excise tax on tobacco products (61,7%). It is assumed that their increase from FY2024. will allow an additional collection of at least 1,1 trillion yen (approx. 8 billion dollars) annually. About 70% of such fees will come from corporate tax.


Non-nuclear submarine "Taigei" of the new project

It is not difficult to calculate that the increase in excise and tax, if the additional fees are fully spent on defense, will increase the military budget to 6,6-6,8 trillion yen. This is 20-24 percent. more than the current one. At the same time, more growth is required to reach the 2% of GDP target. According to the latest estimates, to solve such a problem, the defense budget will have to be increased by almost one and a half times. Accordingly, the government should look for new sources of funding. How successful this process will be, only time will tell.

New spending


How exactly the Ministry of Defense will use the increased military budget has not yet been reported. However, earlier officials have repeatedly spoken about the need for a general modernization of the Self-Defense Forces and various transformations. The need for rearmament is also regularly mentioned, for which various promising projects are launched. Far from all such plans and proposals can be implemented while remaining within the current military budgets.

Obviously, a significant share of the increased budgets will go to the development and purchase of advanced weapons and equipment. Therefore, one should hardly be surprised that against the backdrop of recent News news about the budget, there were reports of the launch or continuation of various rearmament programs, incl. the most daring.

So, on December 9, Japan, Great Britain and Italy announced the launch of a joint Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), the goal of which is to create a promising next-generation fighter by 2035. Japanese industry in this project will be represented by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. What will be the financial participation of Japan has not yet been reported, but it is obvious that the work will be paid for precisely by increasing the defense budget.


Design appearance of the aircraft GCAP

On the same day, the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced the results of the WAPC program, during which they chose a new wheeled armored personnel carrier for the ground forces. The winner of the competition was the AMVXP project from the Finnish company Patria, and now Japan intends to acquire a license for the production of such equipment. The required vehicles will be produced over the next few years - during a period of gradual increase in the military budget.

A number of other programs and projects are at various stages. First of all, issues of strengthening air and missile defense are being worked out. New ships are being developed and proposals are being made to build full-fledged aircraft carriers. Work has begun in the field of hypersonic weapons, etc. All of these projects require funding, and the planned increase in the military budget is likely to allow them to be implemented.

Threats and answers


As an official reason for increasing defense spending, the Japanese leadership calls the worsening situation in the Asia-Pacific region. China and North Korea are building up their military power, and Japan sees them as a threat to its security. In addition, the Japanese leadership follows its main ally and is not going to improve relations with Russia.

In response to the general deterioration of the situation, the Japanese government plans to modernize and strengthen the army, and one of the first steps in this direction is to increase the budget. Now he has to find additional money, increase expenses within the specified time frame and achieve a competent distribution of funds. Whether it will be possible to cope with such tasks, time will tell.
Our news channels

Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest news and the most important events of the day.

21 comment
Information
Dear reader, to leave comments on the publication, you must sign in.
  1. +7
    15 December 2022 07: 14
    In fact, having shown our inconsistency in a number of, albeit minor, moments in the hall of the NWO, we initiated “salivation” in almost half of the neighbors. Who began to harbor "revanchist" dreams of what to "bite off", go somewhere or sell themselves to someone.
    In fact, only a few have no claims to the “Kemsky volost” against us: Mongolia, North Korea and Belarus.
    It is sad.
    1. +5
      15 December 2022 07: 29
      The Japanese have long been strengthening their "Self-Defense Forces". And they have not hidden their desires regarding the "Northern Territories" since the end of the Second World War!
      Already in 2006, school atlases on the history of China were published in the PRC, which indicated that "Western Siberia, including the Tomsk region, is temporarily lost Chinese territories."
      It didn't happen today...
      1. +2
        15 December 2022 07: 46
        How is our Pacific Fleet? In fact, only nuclear weapons now somehow hold our Asian partners.
        1. +2
          15 December 2022 08: 10
          Our Pacific Fleet was not very strong even with ampyators ...
          1. +1
            15 December 2022 08: 24
            Quote: hohol95
            wasn't very strong...

            But the cruiser "Varyag" is available!
            1. +2
              15 December 2022 08: 35
              There is no gunboat "Korean"!
              And in Chemulpo there is no berth for the Varyag.
              1. 0
                16 December 2022 05: 30
                Quote: hohol95
                There is no gunboat "Korean"!

                There is a "Vympel" nearby. Will it fit?
            2. 0
              15 December 2022 20: 27
              Which sistership is "Moscow"? And which was "repaired" in the same way as "Moscow" - having shamanized the undercarriage so that it would go to parades under its own power, but in the same way ignoring the fire extinguishing system (due to its unimportance for parades, like air defense, anti-aircraft defense and most of everything else, what makes a warship a combat unit)? And what - the fact that such a "Varangian" exists, is this a reason for joy and pride?
              1. +1
                16 December 2022 01: 28
                Quote: UAZ 452
                there is such a "Varangian", is this a reason for joy and pride?

                He only needs to repeat the feat of "Varyag"
          2. +3
            15 December 2022 08: 33
            Quote: hohol95
            Our Pacific Fleet was not very strong even with ampyators ...

            To be honest, in the Russian Empire there was no Pacific Fleet or even the Northern Fleet. The security of the Far Eastern borders was provided by the Pacific squadrons and flotillas. It was assumed that we would be able to increase the number of warships at the expense of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. The result of the fallacy of this theory, we all know.
            1. +2
              15 December 2022 08: 38
              And there were no borders...
              And customs.
              How many fish and other bio-resources the Japanese and Norwegians "stuck" until the Border Troops of the NKVD of the USSR got stronger!
            2. 0
              23 January 2023 19: 41
              the banks of Tsushima were sprinkled with bloody rain (
        2. +1
          15 December 2022 08: 28
          On my shelf is the 2000 Jane reference book, where our Pacific Fleet, although sadly, imagined something. Today is sadder.
          1. +1
            15 December 2022 08: 33
            Are there any suggestions for strengthening the Pacific Fleet?
            Shall we call "Emiram of Bukhara" and set up new warships of the "a la Volunteer of the 21st century" type in different Germany?
            1. +1
              15 December 2022 11: 16
              The idea is good, but the first step must be taken by the state with the development of a sane doctrine for the use of the fleet. Then develop a program for the construction of ships, deploy shipyards for its implementation, and only then look for the "Emirs of Bukhara".
      2. 0
        15 December 2022 15: 01
        An aging population and a declining birth rate. Under these conditions, apart from cruise missiles with chemical and bacteriological warheads, there is nothing to fight back from the Chinese.
    2. 0
      26 February 2023 10: 35
      """.... In addition, it is proposed to increase the corporate income tax, which is currently 23,2%, as well as the excise tax on tobacco products (61,7%)..."""
      -----------
      The result of the new tobacco tax (excise) will be a new wave of tobacco smuggling to Japan, and the result of an increase in corporate income tax will be a decrease in the efficiency of the Japanese economy surrounded by strong competitors ("tigers" and "dragons" ...) of the Asia-Pacific region ... ..The economies of China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore - on an equal footing, have long and already been very successfully competing with the Japanese economy, and Indonesia is on the way. Thailand, Vietnam, North Korea (yes, not a misprint ... very soon there will be an unprecedented economic A MIRACLE in the DPRK, which diligently copy the successful Chinese experience) .... Although, if Japan has clearly come to terms (in vain ... it needs to be improved) with the fact that it is on the economic front, it will already be difficult for it to fight in such an environment of tigers and dragons, then surely the Japanese (purely Western, that is, pirate-gangster psychology ...) decided to recall the dashing militarization of Japan in the early twentieth century. But, if they decide to revive the military power of Japan, then Japan's neighbors must be sure that this is done solely for the purpose of SELF-DEFENSE, and not for a new seizure of living space for Japan from the neighbors ..
  2. 0
    16 January 2023 13: 24
    Japan needs to be clearly explained: that in the event of an attempt to seize the Kuril Islands, she, Japan, will go to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
  3. 0
    23 January 2023 19: 40
    pray, fakin americans!!! it was not worth it to make hell in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Amaterasu and samurai will not calm down until you are destroyed! These are not peace-loving Chinese, these are bloodthirsty Japanese!
  4. 0
    23 February 2023 05: 16
    Quote: UAZ 452
    Which sistership is "Moscow"? And which was "repaired" in the same way as "Moscow" - having shamanized the undercarriage so that it would go to parades under its own power, but in the same way ignoring the fire extinguishing system (due to its unimportance for parades, like air defense, anti-aircraft defense and most of everything else, what makes a warship a combat unit)? And what - the fact that such a "Varangian" exists, is this a reason for joy and pride?

    In fact, Moscow was quite a combat unit, the question is in the tactics of use, if the anti-ship missiles hit the Fort air defense BC, as a number of sources report, then this is essentially the same as in the T-72 Metis will fly to the BC, it is not realistic to put out. The question is in the tactics of use, a ship of this class should go in a warrant, it is the warrant that provides air defense separation, alone it is just a target.
  5. 0
    23 February 2023 05: 21
    Quote: Kote Pan Kokhanka
    Quote: hohol95
    Our Pacific Fleet was not very strong even with ampyators ...

    To be honest, in the Russian Empire there was no Pacific Fleet or even the Northern Fleet. The security of the Far Eastern borders was provided by the Pacific squadrons and flotillas. It was assumed that we would be able to increase the number of warships at the expense of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. The result of the fallacy of this theory, we all know.

    Well, as if the First Pacific proved to be quite worthy, the defeat was partly accidental, and the campaign of the Second Pacific was more of an improvisation than a planned action.

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

“Non-profit organizations, unregistered public associations or individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent,” as well as media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent: “Medusa”; "Voice of America"; "Realities"; "Present time"; "Radio Freedom"; Ponomarev; Savitskaya; Markelov; Kamalyagin; Apakhonchich; Makarevich; Dud; Gordon; Zhdanov; Medvedev; Fedorov; "Owl"; "Alliance of Doctors"; "RKK" "Levada Center"; "Memorial"; "Voice"; "Person and law"; "Rain"; "Mediazone"; "Deutsche Welle"; QMS "Caucasian Knot"; "Insider"; "New Newspaper"