Japan MOD Seeks 2.2 Per cent Defense Budget Hike To Buy Military Equipment

The Japanese MOD has requested the government to increase its fourth straight annual military budget spending by 2.2 per cent to buy military equipment.

The proposed procurement includes BAE Systems' AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles, Lockheed Martin's F-35 Stealth warplanes and Boeing's Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.

In the budget request, defense officials have allocated $90 million to expand an army base on Miyakojima island, 300 km (188 miles) east of Yonaguni and $72 million for base construction on Amami Oshima, an island halfway between the main Okinawan island, home to the largest contingent of U.S. Marines in Asia, and the Japanese mainland.

The Osprey troop carrying aircraft, amphibious assault vehicles and new maneuverable armored fighting vehicles on Tokyo's shopping list will strengthen a force including Japan's first detachment of marines since World War Two.

The move is to strengthen the country's island Chain in the East China Sea. The Island Chain is close to ocean territory claimed by Beijing.

The ministry, in a document submitted to the government on Monday, have requested for a 2.2 per cent increase in military spending to $42.38 billion for the year starting in April. If approved, the new defense budget would be Japan's biggest in 14 years, the Reuters reported Monday.

China's military budget for this year rose 10.1 per cent to $138.37 billion, the second largest in the world after the US.

Other purchases include Global Hawk drones made by Northrop Grumman, mobile missile batteries, helicopters and other kit the military wants to defend island-dotted ocean territory stretching 1,400 km (870 miles) from the Japanese mainland almost to Taiwan.

Money would also be allocated to building and extending military bases along the island chain.

As China's military power grows, Japan is shifting from defending its northern borders from a diminished Russian threat with tanks and heavy armor to deploying a lighter, more mobile force in the East China Sea and the Western Pacific.

By strengthening the military presence on islands with radar stations, troop bases or missile batteries, Japan could gain a tactical advantage over China, which with far fewer islands under its control in the region would have to rely more on naval vessels or ocean platforms.

Japan and China contest ownership of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea called the Senkaku by Tokyo and the Diaoyu by Beijing. Japan administers the chain.

Only 150 km (94 miles) south of the outcrops, Japan is building a military radar station on Yonaguni island, home to 1,500 people.