A Chinese military Y9 intelligence-gathering plane that Japan’s Defense Ministry said “violated” Japanese airspace at 11:29 am (0229 GMT) for about two minutes on August 26, 2024. File | Photo Credit: AFP PHOTO/JAPAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
Japan’s Defense Ministry on Friday (Aug 30, 2024) sought a record budget of 8.5 trillion yen (59 billion US dollars) for next year to strengthen deterrence on the southwestern islands against the growing threat of China while focusing on unmanned weapons and AI to meet the reduction in the number of service members as a result of the country’s shrinking population.
The ministry’s request for 2025 marks the third year of Japan’s rapid five-year military build-up plan under the government’s security strategy. Japan aims to spend 43 trillion yen (USD 297 billion) by 2027 to double annual military spending to around 10 trillion yen, making it the world’s third-largest military spender after the United States and China.
The budget request was approved at a meeting of the Minister of Defense on Friday (August 30, 2024) before being sent to the Minister of Finance for negotiations until December.
Japan has rapidly built up its defenses in its southwestern region in recent years amid China’s military threats and military tensions in the regional seas.
China has escalated clashes with the guarding of the coast of the Philippines in the turbulent waters of the South China Sea and sent a fleet of Coast Guard vessels to regularly violate the territorial waters around Japan-controlled disputed islands in the East China Sea that Beijing also claims.
A 970 billion yen (USD 6.7 billion) of the budget request for 2025 covers the cost of strengthening the ability to strike back with the development and purchase of long-range missiles and equipment for launch, including from Aegis-class destroyers. About one-third of that goes to a constellation of satellites aimed at bolstering the ability to detect missile-related activity, as North Korea, China and Russia develop hypersonic missiles that are harder to detect and track.
While pushing for a military build-up, Japan will have to deal with its shrinking force size and focus on developing and buying more drones for surveillance and combat, asking for 103 billion yen (USD 710 million). It is also seeking 314 billion yen (USD 2.17 billion) to build three new multipurpose compact destroyers that will require a crew of 90, less than half the crew size currently required.
Japanese defense officials say combat drones are a “game changer” that can carry out missions for hours and reduce human casualties in combat and consider them a key pillar of Japan’s military formation. Unmanned weapons can also help countries struggling with aging and shrinking populations.
Japan has struggled to meet the SDF’s troop level at 247,000 men.
The Self-Defense Forces have had difficulty attracting young applicants in recent years and completed only half of their recruitment target of 19,598 last year, the lowest in the SDF’s 70-year history. Last year, 6,258 mid-career personnel left, the highest number in 30 years.
“Due to the declining birthrate and working-age population, it is inevitable that Japan will face a society with a serious labor shortage,” the ministry said in an interim report on human resources, also released on Friday. “We need to build an organization that can fight in new ways while strengthening our defense capabilities.”
A shrinking younger population and private companies offering better pay and benefits have created “the worst recruiting environment for service members since the end of World War II,” the ministry’s report said.
It is asking for 18 billion yen (USD 124 million) to introduce an AI surveillance system at 40 SDF bases in Japan, with the goal of freeing 1,000 service personnel. It also requested 4.3 billion (USD 29.7 million) for an automated supply depot to be launched in 2027 in Okinawa.
In an interim report released on Friday (August 30, 2024), the ministry called for reforms to improve salaries, working environments, more training and learning opportunities, as well as support for working mothers to attract more women.
The ministry has been hit by a series of revelations about sexual assault, harassment and abuse of power in recent years. An internal investigation last year criticized cover-ups and a lack of accountability among supervisors. It was exposed in July due to the leak of classified information and a corruption scandal.
