Military sees record spending, aims to buy more US weapons

TOKYO, Dec 8, (Agencies): Japan’s military looks to raise spending over the next five years in response to security challenges and to narrow Japan’s trade surplus with the United States by buying US equipment, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

The Ministry of Defence looks to spend at least 27 trillion yen ($240 billion) between April 2019 and March 2024, with the spending rising an average 1.1 percent per year, exceeding the 0.8 percent average during the five years ending next March, the report said without identifying its sources.

Currently, payments on equipment and personnel expenses account for 80 percent of defence spending, Nikkei said. Under the plan, funds for new equipment purchases will be separated from these expenses, making it easier to buy equipment from the United States, it added. Japan aims to have cabinet approval for the spending in mid-December, it said. The Ministry of Defence could not be reached immediately for comment.

Purchases of American-made equipment could help Tokyo ease trade friction with Washington as US President Donald Trump pushes Japan to buy more American goods, including military gear, while threatening to impose tariffs on Japanese auto imports to cut a trade deficit with Tokyo.

Japan’s Ministry of Defence in August sought record spending of 5.3 trillion yen next year to help pay for major upgrades to defences designed to shoot down any North Korean ballistic missile, which that Tokyo sees as a continued threat despite Pyongyang’s promise to abandon nuclear weapons.

The US Marines have identified a fighter pilot who died after his jet collided with a refueling aircraft during training off Japan’s coast, leaving five other Marines missing and one rescued.

Two pilots were flying an F/A-18 Hornet that collided with a KC-130 Hercules about 2 am Thursday. The other pilot was rescued and the crew of the refueling plane is missing.

The Marine Corps identified the dead crew member as Capt Jahmar Resilard, 28, of Miramar, Florida. He served with Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242, stationed on Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi, Japan.