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Eyeing China, Japan seeks record defence budget

Plans to buy P-1 surveillance aircraft and ‘Global Hawk’ drones, as well as an Aegis radar-equipped destroyer, are also part of the 5 trillion yen ($48 billion) budget for the year beginning in April 2015, a 3.5 percent increase from the current year.

The budget reflects a new defense strategy and guidelines released in December as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushes to give the military a greater role. Tensions with China have risen over a cluster of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries.

To allow Japan a more assertive military posture, Abe’s Cabinet in July approved a reinterpretation of the country’s U.S.-drafted war-renouncing constitution so that the country can defend American and other foreign troops under attack. The step has split public opinion because of continuing sensitivity over Japan’s militaristic past.

Twenty P-1 aircraft would cost 380 billion yen ($3.6 billion) and a new destroyer 162 billion yen ($1.6 billion). Six F-35s have a price tag of about 96 billion yen ($930 million). The ministry is also requesting 41 billion yen ($400 million) for research and development of next-generation fighter jets that would replace F-2 jets that will eventually retire.

To upgrade troop mobility, Japan also plans to deploy Osprey tilt-rotor helicopters and amphibious vehicles.
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