Japanese Defense Ministry requests ¥323.2 Billion Budget for ‘Satellite Constellation’; Funds Aim to Identify Missile Attack Targets

By Naohiro Tamura / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

8:00 JST, September 1, 2024

The Defense Ministry requested ¥323.2 billion to build a so-called “satellite constellation” network for guiding missiles in its initial budget request for fiscal 2025 announced on Friday.

In total, the ministry requested about ¥8.5389 trillion, exceeding ¥8 trillion in an initial request for the first time ever.

In the request, the ministry placed the highest-level importance on building up counterattack capabilities and earmarked \970 billion for costs associated with programs related to those capabilities.

The ¥323.2 billion requested for building the satellite constellation network will be used to operate a group of small satellites.

Many small satellites on the same orbit comprise the satellite constellation network, which is expected to play the role of an eye in the sky that can detect and chase targets constantly.

Currently, the government operates 10 information-gathering satellites of three kinds. But a senior official of the Defense Ministry said, “[The satellites] can shoot photos about twice a day and cannot be used to lock onto moving targets.”

Thus, the task is to strengthen the nation’s information-gathering capabilities.

To enhance production capabilities of hypersonic guided missiles, which fly at the speeds of Mach 5 or faster, the ministry requested ¥256.9 billion.

A request for ¥17 billion was made to acquire an improved version of the Type 12 surface-to-ship guided missiles, which will be the core domestically produced weapon of the nation’s counterattack capabilities.

In fiscal 2025, deployment of U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles and other new weapons will begin.

Based on decisions outlined in three defense documents, including the National Security Strategy, which were revised in December 2022, the government plans to increase the defense budget to ¥43 trillion between fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2027.

The ministry’s initial budget request of more than ¥8 trillion for fiscal 2025, the third year of the period, is in line with that schedule.

Defense budget amounts in the government’s initial budget have rapidly increased in recent years. The amount was just over ¥5.4005 trillion in fiscal 2022 and rose to ¥6.8219 trillion in fiscal 2023 and to ¥7.9496 trillion in fiscal 2024.

However, as much as about ¥130 billion of the fiscal 2023 defense budget was not spent and returned to the treasury, it has since been revealed.

Additionally, the timeline for rolling out new tax hikes, the source of the defense budget increase, is still yet to be decided.

Accordingly, it is possible that controversies may be stirred about whether such raises to the defense budget are appropriate.