Source: Global Times
According to Japanese media reports, Japan's Kishida government has recently launched a "final coordination" on the 2024 defense budget of about 7.7 trillion yen (20 yen or about 1 yuan). If approved, Japan's defense budget will set another all-time record. Not only that, but Japan plans to continue to significantly increase its defense spending over the next five years. In what areas are these defense funds spent, and what offensive weapons and equipment are procured?
Under the pretext of enhancing missile defense capabilities, create a "super-large cruiser"
According to an article on the Financial Times website titled "Japan Increases Military Spending to Counter China with More Missiles and Ships," the Japanese government plans to spend a record 7.7 trillion yen in annual defense spending to expand its fleet and enhance its missile capabilities. According to the report, the budget requirements put forward by the Japanese Ministry of Defense include funding for destroyers equipped with the Aegis system, new stealth frigates and precision-guided missiles. This is in line with Tokyo's ambitious military build-up plan unveiled last year to address China, which Tokyo calls "its biggest strategic challenge." According to the report, the 2024-2025 budget is 13% higher than the expected expenditure for the current fiscal year. This is part of a 43 trillion yen five-year plan in Tokyo.
Maya-class destroyers
Japan's planned defense spending next year includes about 1.2 trillion yen to upgrade its missile defense system "in response to North Korea's frequent missile launches and advances in its military technology," according to the Financial Times. Due to the high cost, Tokyo canceled its previously proposed plan to purchase the Aegis Ashore system and intends to build a new destroyer equipped with the American-made Aegis missile defense system.
In fact, earlier this year, when Japan disclosed its budget requirements for fiscal 2024, it disclosed the shape of the missile defense ship. It has updated the latest outline drawings of the so-called ballistic missile defense ship, or "Aegis carrier". Zhang Xuefeng, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times that the Japanese side's early release of the image of a ballistic missile defense ship is more like a relatively pure ballistic missile defense ship equipped with a missile defense system on a large amphibious dock transport ship, with a displacement of up to 20,000 tons, but it is equipped with a relatively small vertical launch system, and there are 64 silos at that time. However, the imaginary drawings of ballistic missile defense ships released this year are more like the enlargement of the existing large multipurpose destroyers. The Japanese side said that its standard displacement is 12,000 tons, the hull is 190 meters long, 25 meters wide, and the full load displacement is expected to exceed 15,000 tons. It has up to 128 vertical silos, can carry the "Standard-3" series of mid-course anti-missile interceptor missiles, can be equipped with the "Standard-6" long-range air defense system, and can also carry the "Tomahawk" cruise missile. In particular, the Tomahawk cruise missile, which can strike at ground targets. In addition, the ship will be equipped with Type 12 anti-ship missiles and their modifications, as well as an AN / SPY-7 ultra-large active phased array radar.
Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" reported that the two "Aegis carriers" that will be commissioned in 2028 will be equipped with 128 missile launchers, which is 30% more than the existing ships equipped with the "Aegis" system. The cost of acquiring such a warship is about 395 billion yen.
The latest outline drawings of the "Aegis carriers" released by Japan are very similar to those of Japan's "Maya"-class destroyers.
Zhang Xuefeng said that in comparison, the full load displacement of the American "Ticonderoga"-class cruisers is less than 10,000 tons. Judging by these points, it is no longer a pure ballistic missile defense ship, and its capabilities have completely surpassed ballistic missile defense ships, but a very typical cruiser, and this class of ships will become one of the most powerful surface warships of Japan since World War II. This shows that under the guise of building ballistic missile defense ships, Japan is actually building super-large cruisers with comprehensive combat capabilities, especially enhanced offensive capabilities.
In order to build offensive combat power, a bunch of missiles were purchased and developed by itself
The U.S. "Defense News" previously published an article entitled "Japan expects a significant increase in defense spending in the next five years", saying that from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2028, Japan will spend $309.75 billion on defense, compared with $122.48 billion from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2023. Of future spending, $35.62 billion will be spent on the development of "stand-off defense capabilities." In the past five years, Japan has spent only $1.4 million on this area, according to the report. These "stand-off capabilities" include the procurement of stand-off launch air-to-ground attack missiles, such as the Joint Strike Missile for F-35 fighter jets, in addition to expanding the range of its Type 12 land-based anti-ship missiles, as well as the development of hypersonic weapons.
According to the Financial Times, Japan's Ministry of Defense's procurement list for next year also includes the purchase of "counterattack weapons," including the purchase of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States, so that it has the ability to strike China. In this regard, Zhang Xuefeng said: In fact, Japan's application for the purchase of two types of US cruise missiles has been approved by the United States this year. The US Department of Defense announced in August and November this year that it had approved the sale of 50 extended-range Joint Standoff Air-to-Surface Cruise Missiles ("JASM"-ER) and 400 "Tomahawk" cruise missiles and related equipment to Japan. Among them, the "Jasm"-ER is the longest-range model of the AGM-158 family, with a maximum range of almost 1000 km. And the Tomahawk cruise missile has a maximum range of more than 1600 km. The Tomahawk cruise missiles sold by the United States to Japan include up to 200 Block 4 and up to 200 Block 5 Tomahawks, 14 sets of tactical Tomahawk weapon control systems (TTWCS), and other supporting training, maintenance, logistics, communications and other equipment. Zhang Xuefeng believes that Japan's defense budget next year may include relevant procurement costs.
Zhang Xuefeng said that in addition to importing missiles from the United States, Japan is also developing long-range ground strike missiles on its own. These include long-range stealth cruise missiles based on Type 12 anti-ship missiles, as well as more advanced so-called high-speed glide missiles, that is, hypersonic missiles with stronger penetration capabilities and longer range. These missiles are obviously typical offensive weapons, but Japan has packaged them as "counterattack capability" and "defense capability outside the defense zone." This is really an attempt to cover them up. The actual threat to Japan's offensive capability building is more serious than that of the United States' deployment of land-based intermediate-range missiles in Asia. The U.S. Army's "Typhon" missile system, a missile battery with a launcher capable of equipping four launchers with a total of 16 missiles, including the "Standard-6" with a range of only 500 kilometers. Even if all the "Typhon" missiles were to be launched, the 400 "Tomahawks" that Japan planned to introduce would be equivalent to 10 "Typhon" missile batteries, and each company would have a reserve of 1.5 bases. And the number of cruise missiles based on Type 12 anti-ship missiles developed by Japan itself will only increase.
All-round efforts are worth being vigilant against
In addition to developing the so-called missile defense capability and offensive forces, Japan's new annual defense budget shows that Japan is making efforts in almost all directions, and the combat capability of the Self-Defense Forces will expand rapidly. According to the British news agency Reuters, the Ministry of Defense plans to allocate more than 900 billion yen for ammunition and weapons, including new shipborne anti-aircraft missiles, and about 600 billion yen will be used to strengthen logistics capabilities to deploy weapons and supplies to the southwestern islands in case of emergency, according to Reuters. Japan's Ministry of Defense also said in its budget requirements that the budget includes funding for three new landing ships totaling more than 17 billion yen, more than 300 billion yen for 17 transport helicopters, and a new specialized transport fleet to increase deployment capabilities. According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese government will set up a new joint army, navy, and air force, tentatively named the "Self-Defense Forces Maritime Transport Group," to ensure the rapid deployment of troops, equipment, and material supplies to the southwestern islands.
In order to promote the development of unmanned surface vehicles, the Ministry of Defense will promote unmanned equipment and apply for 16 billion yen to purchase unmanned vehicles from other countries with reliable operational records.
According to the Financial Times article, the largest part of the budget demand this time is 3.1 trillion yen, earmarked for strengthening the "sustainability and resilience" of the Self-Defense Forces. The aim is to address shortages of basic items ranging from ammunition stocks and fuel to earthquake-resistant facilities, which Japanese officials fear will hamper the Self-Defense Forces' ability to cope with a protracted conflict. The Self-Defense Forces have allocated part of their planned budget to improving ties with the Southwest Islands, an area that is "critical to the defense of Taiwan," and the United States and Japan have agreed to step up training and Xi toward the Southwest Islands.
According to the report, the structure of Japan's Self-Defense Forces will also be reorganized and a unified command structure for the land, sea, and air will be established. The Self-Defense Forces will seek to increase the number of its cybersecurity department from about 890 to 2,410 by fiscal year 2024-2025 and address its defense weaknesses by establishing an integrated cloud system for cybersecurity measures.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense is seeking to allocate significant funds for the next-generation fighter program in cooperation with Britain and Italy, as "Tokyo wants to strengthen relations with Western military alliances." Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy signed an agreement on the joint development of a new generation of fighters, which will start development in 2025 and strive to start deployment by 2035, according to a report by Japan's Kyodo News Agency on December 14. The fighter program is currently known as the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP). GCAP combines the advantages of the British-led Tempest fighter and Japan's F-X fighter program, on the basis of which a sixth-generation fighter is developed. This is the first time since World War II that Japan has embarked on a large-scale military-industrial cooperation project with a country other than the United States.
Zhang Xuefeng believes that in December 2022, after Japan officially adopted the three documents of the new version of the security strategy ("National Security Strategy", "National Defense Strategy" and "Defense Force Rearmament Plan"), Japan's security policy will undergo fundamental changes in 2023, and through the record 2024 annual defense spending, Japan will develop its military strength on an unprecedented scale since the end of World War II, especially the development of offensive forces, which will greatly undermine the security and stability of Northeast Asia and pose a severe challenge to the security of Asian neighbors.