Nick Szechenyi, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, has said Japan has requested $51 billion in defense budget for fiscal year 2017 in response to regional security threats, the National Defense magazine reports.Vivienne Machi writes Szechenyi said those regional threats include disputes over the East China Sea with China as well as missile and nuclear weapon development in North Korea.
Szechenyi told the magazine that Japan’s FY 2017 budget request for defense represents a 2 percent rise over the previous fiscal year and includes the procurement of the Lockheed Martin-built F-35A fighter aircraft, as well as plans to update the country’s Standard Missile 3 Block 2A platform and PAC-3 missile launcher systems.
Japan also plans to modernize its maritime surveillance aircraft, acquire a new submarine, invest in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tools and advance joint defense training cooperation with the U.S. and other countries, Szechenyi said.
Details on Japan’s defense budget request come after the country expressed plans to expedite a $1 billion investment to facilitate upgrades to ballistic missile defense systems in response to North Korea’s rocket tests.
