Japan’s defense ministry is requesting a nearly 12% budget increase that includes two warships with advanced radar and long-range cruise missiles as it further fortifies the nation’s military in the face of North Korean threats and Chinese military advancement.
The record 7.7 trillion yen ($52.5 billion) request for the 2024 fiscal year marks the second year of a rapid five-year military buildup under a new security strategy Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government adopted in December. It focuses on reinforcing strike capability in a break from Japan’s postwar principle of having a military only for self-defense.
Under the five-year plan, Japan plans to spend 43 trillion yen ($315 billion) through 2027 to nearly double its annual spending to around 10 trillion yen ($68 billion), making Japan the world’s third-biggest spender after the United States and China. How to finance and justify the growing military spending is uncertain in a country with steeply declining births and increasing costs of caring for its aged population.
They probably won’t for a while. They do, however, have helicopter destroyers that coincidentally support F-35 operations. However, please keep in mind that this isn’t a carrier, but rather a helicopter destroyer. We may also expect to see helicopter cruisers in the future, but that’s TBD.
/s if that wasn’t obvious, they already very much have carriers even if they aren’t exactly Nimitz-class carriers.
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