From Newsgroup: aus.politics

TOKYO (AP) u JapanAs Cabinet on Friday approved a record defense budget
plan exceeding 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) for the coming year, aiming to fortify its strike-back capability and coastal defense with cruise
missiles and unmanned arsenals as tensions rise in the region.

The draft budget for fiscal 2026 beginning April is up 9.4% from 2025 and marks the fourth year of JapanAs ongoing five-year program to double
annual arms spending to 2% of gross domestic product.

The increase comes as Japan faces elevated tension from China. Japanese
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that her countryAs military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self- governing island that Beijing says must come under its rule.

TakaichiAs government, under U.S. pressure for a military increase,
pledged to achieve the 2% target by March, two years earlier than planned. Japan also plans to revise the ongoing security and defense policy by
December 2026 to further strengthen its military.

Missiles and drones will add to southwestern island defense
Japan has been bolstering its offensive capability with long-range
missiles to attack enemy targets from a distance, a major break from its post-World War II principle limiting the use of force to own self-defense.

The current security strategy, adopted in 2022, names China as the
countryAs biggest strategic challenge and calls for a more offensive role
for JapanAs Self-Defense Force under its security alliance with the U.S.

The new budget plan allocates more than 970 billion yen ($6.2 billion) to bolster JapanAs ostandoffo missile capability. It includes a 177 billion-
yen ($1.13 billion) purchase of domestically developed and upgraded Type-
12 surface-to-ship missiles with a range of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The first batch of the Type-12 missiles will be deployed in JapanAs southwestern Kumamoto prefecture by March, a year earlier than planned, as Japan accelerates its missile buildup in the region.

In part due to JapanAs aging and declining population and its struggles
with an understaffed military, the government believes unmanned weapons
are essential.

To defend the coasts, Japan will spend 100 billion yen ($640 million) to deploy omassiveo unmanned air, sea-surface and underwater drones for surveillace and defense under a system called oSHIELDo planned for March
2028, defense ministry officials said.

For speedier deployment, Japan initially plans to rely mainly on imports, possibly from Turkey or Israel.

https://apnews.com/article/japan-defense-spending-china-missile- 221b2cb5da0760d6e07f63ac01deba93

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