Japan seeks to boost missile defences

Record military budget in response to threats from North Korea

TOKYO— Japan’s Defence Ministry is seeking to more than double spending on missile defence, including purchases of costly American arsenal, to defend against North Korean threats.

The record-high 5.3 trillion yen ($62 billion Canadian) request for fiscal 2019, approved Friday by the ministry, is up 2.1 per cent from last year. The military spending has risen seven consecutive years under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The request related to missile defence rises to 424 billion yen from about 180 billion yen last year.

The overall government budget plan is to be submitted for cabinet and parliamentary approval later this year.

The final budget could still grow because the request leaves out spending to reduce Okinawan communities’ burden of hosting many of 50,000 American troops stationed on the southern island and a relocation cost for some troops to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

A big chunk would buy a pair of land-based Aegis missile defence systems and a ship-to-air SM-3 Block IIA interceptor with an expanded range and accuracy developed by the U.S. and Japan, as well as upgrading of fighter jets and destroyers to make them compatible with advanced interceptors.

Japan has pushed harder to upgrade and bolster its missile and strike-back capability, citing North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat.

The Defence Ministry, in an annual military review released this week, emphasized the need to further strengthen missile defences because North Korea hasn’t taken concrete steps to denuclearize despite its pledge to do so.

Opposition to Japan’s big spending on missile defence has risen since Pyongyang suspended missile tests this year as it made diplomatic overtures to the U.S. and South Korea.

In the budget request, Japan’s U.S. arms purchases under the Foreign Military Sales program would jump 70 per cent from last year to a record 692 billion yen.

Japan currently has a twostep missile defence system — interceptors on destroyers in the Sea of Japan, and if they fail, land-to-air mobile PAC-3s. Technically, the current setup can deal with falling debris or missiles fired at Japan but is insufficient for high-altitude missiles or multiple attacks, experts say.

Apair of land-based Aegis systems can cover all of Japan and multiply missile defence, experts say.

It would cost 100 billion yen more than an earlier estimate as Japan chose Lockheed Martin’s expensive LMSSR radar, said to be capable of shooting down cruise and other missiles on high-altitude trajectory.

It would take about six years for the system to become operational, defence officials said.