The record-high defense budget Japan's cabinet approved on Thursday is heavily geared toward expanding the role of the country's Self-Defense Forces and broadening the cooperation between Japan and the United States.
The 5.1 trillion yen ($42.1 billion) request is part of a 96.7 trillion yen ($800 billion) national budget plan for fiscal 2016 that begins from April.
Japan's defense spending was falling before Shinzo Abe returned to the prime minister's office in 2012. Under his watch, the declines have been reversed.
The new defense budget is the fourth consecutive increase under his leadership, up 2.2 percent from the current fiscal year, and the first since Japan revised its bilateral defense guidelines with the U.S. and enacted new security legislation to strengthen its military role and allow wider cooperation between the two allies.
Japan revised the guidelines for the defense cooperation with the U.S. in April. The new Acquisition Technology and Logistics Agency under Japan's defense ministry became operational on Oct 1. And most importantly, new security laws that allow Japan to exercise the right to the collective self-defense were pushed through the Diet in September.
Although opinion surveys suggest the Japanese public is wary of the changes, the Abe administration has determinedly railroaded them through. And it is clear that the changes being initiated are largely China-centric. Japanese defense white papers have repeatedly posited China as the main source of security concerns in recent years.
Among other things, the Japanese defense ministry's budget proposal claims such spending is necessary to defend its island-dotted ocean territory stretching 1,400 kilometers from the Japanese mainland almost to Taiwan. Money will also be allocated to building and extending military bases along the island chain. By bolstering its military presence on islands with radar stations, troop bases and missile batteries Japan wants to gain a tactical advantage over China.
Big ticket items include the procurement of the pricy U.S. Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft and four Osprey tilt-rotor transportation aircraft. Japan will also acquire the new KC46A aerial refueling aircraft to fulfill the role of refueling U.S. military planes as part of the SDF's rear-echelon support envisioned in the security laws.
Also on the shopping list are AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles - Japan is in the process of setting up an Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade by 2017.
Japanese defense ministry's 10-year National Program Guidelines - subdivided into two five-year Mid-Term Defense Programs - have allocated 23.97 trillion yen over the five years from 2014 to 2018 toward the creation of more amphibious warfare capabilities and a lighter "dynamic joint defense force".
By the end of 2023, the ministry plans to convert seven out of the current 15 SDF brigades and divisions into mobile divisions.
Japan has a small, but highly sophisticated SDF. Current spending on defense provides Japan with significant capacity to maintain a modern, high technology force. Japan's latent capacity to increase defense spending significantly in the future shouldn't be underestimated.
Japan has initiated defense cooperation with the ASEAN countries, especially those that have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, to train and improve their own coast guards.
During their first two-plus-two talks, Japan reached an agreement with Indonesia on Dec 17 following Tokyo's accord with India on the legal framework for transfers of defense equipment and technology.
Japan's rising defense budget represents a strategic move with significant implications for the security situation in Asia.
The ongoing transformation of Japan's security policy on the basis of Abe's so-called proactive pacifism will have far-reaching effects on security and the balance of power in the region.
