Japan’s Defense Budget for FY 2025 To Hit Record ¥8.7 Trillion; Government Set to Develop New Counterattack Capabilities

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, December 29, 2024

Japan’s defense spending for fiscal 2025 will increase to a record high of ¥8.7 trillion, up 9.4% from the previous year, after the government approved a draft defense budget on Friday.

The budget, which includes funding for the Digital Agency and U.S. military reorganization, has risen for the 13th straight year as the country seeks to deter China and North Korea as they continue expanding their military capabilities.

The government aims to use the increase in spending to strengthen the country’s counterattack capabilities through the introduction of long-range missiles and by developing a satellite network.

“Japan faces national security circumstances which are the most serious and complicated since the end of World War II,” Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said during a meeting at the Defense Ministry on Friday. “It is an urgent task to fundamentally strengthen defense capabilities.”

The government is pushing forward with its plan to allocate a total of about ¥43 trillion for defense spending over a five-year period which started in fiscal 2023. The next fiscal year marks the 3rd year of the plan.

The government is looking to acquire counterattack capabilities for self-defense purposes, such as gaining the ability to strike enemy missile bases. In the proposed budget, ¥16.8 billion is earmarked for the introduction of a new type of ship-launched missile which is an improved version of the Ground Self-Defense Forces’ Type 12 surface-to-ship guided missile.

The government will also begin research to develop equipment that can launch long-range missiles vertically from submarines.

The budget also allocates ¥283.2 billion to build a satellite constellation network — small satellites grouped together — which will work together as ‘eyes’ of the counterattack capabilities to identify attack targets. The satellites will be launched one by one starting at the end of fiscal 2025 and the constellation is set to begin operating in fiscal 2027.