International Japan’s Cabinet approves a record $56 billion military budget to speed up strike capability

[Hog-train]

- Why is too late?

Godzilla already laid waste to the country.

 

[BreatheSherBro]

The easiest thing to do would be for all the major powers of the world to agree to reduce and eventually stop trading with China. Starve the beast rather than wait until you must come to blows with it.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Godzilla already laid waste to the country.

- Jaspion protects Japan!

 

[LeonardoBjj]

The easiest thing to do would be for all the major powers of the world to agree to reduce and eventually stop trading with China. Starve the beast rather than wait until you must come to blows with it.

- I think this is impossible.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Japan signs agreement to purchase 400 Tomahawk missiles as US envoy lauds its defense buildup​

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI

TOKYO (AP) — Japan signed a deal with the United States on Thursday to purchase up to 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles as part of its ongoing military buildup in response to increased regional threats.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government has pledged to double its annual defense spending to around 10 trillion yen ($68 billion) by 2027, which would make Japan the world’s third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara announced in December a decision to accelerate deployment of some Tomahawks and Japanese-made Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles beginning in fiscal year 2025, a year before the original plan. The government says Japan is facing its “severest” security environment since World War II because of threats from China and North Korea, causing it to increase military cooperation with the U.S., Australia, Britain and other friendly nations.

In November, the U.S. approved a $2.35 billion sale of two types of Tomahawks — 200 Block IV missiles and 200 upgraded Block V versions. They can be launched from warships and hit targets 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) away, officials said.

The signing of the purchase agreement on Thursday was attended by Kihara and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel.



Japan and the United States agreed to expedite the deployment “in response to the increasingly severe security environment,” Kihara said.

Emanuel said training of Japanese servicemembers for the Tomahawks will start in March.

Late last year, Japan’s Cabinet eased a ban on exports of lethal weapons, allowing the sale of Japanese-made weapons and components made under license from other nations to those countries. The government quickly approved a shipment of Japanese-made Patriot missiles to the United States to complement the U.S. inventory.

Japan is accelerating its deployment of long-range cruise missiles capable of hitting targets in China or North Korea, while Japanese troops increasingly work side-by-side with the U.S. and other friendly nations and take on more offensive roles.

At a news conference earlier Thursday marking the end of his second year in Tokyo, Emanuel lauded Japan’s rapid move during that time to build up its military and strengthen its alliance with the U.S. to meet challenges in the region.

Under a new defense strategy adopted in December 2022, Japan has joined the United States, Australia, South Korea and many other regional partners “in an aligned vision of how to promote peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and meet the challenges head on,” Emanuel said.

The U.S. approach to its partnership with Japan is “one of ensuring deterrence” and making sure there is no change in the region by military force, Emanuel said.

“There is a new Japan emerging, a more competent Japan,” he said.

https://apnews.com/article/japan-us-tomahawk-missile-defense-0bcabfc4a87bf1a16beceec1b0c426fb

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Japan approves plan to sell fighter jets to other nations in latest break from pacifist principles​

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI
Updated 1:57 AM BRT, March 26, 2024

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it’s developing with Britain and Italy to other countries, in the latest move away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles.

The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project and part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security.

The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to countries other than the partners.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the changes are necessary given Japan’s security environment, but stressed that Japan’s pacifist principles remain unchanged.

“In order to achieve a fighter aircraft that meets the necessary performance and to avoid jeopardizing the defense of Japan, it is necessary to transfer finished products from Japan to countries other than partner countries,” Hayashi told reporters, adding that Tokyo will follow a strict approval process for jet sales. “We have clearly demonstrated that we will continue to adhere to our basic philosophy as a peaceful nation,” he said.
Japan has long restricted arms exports under the country’s pacifist constitution, but has rapidly taken steps to deregulate amid rising regional and global tensions, especially from nearby China.

The decision on jets will allow Japan to export lethal weapons it coproduces to other countries for the first time.



Japan is working with Italy and the U.K. to develop an advanced fighter jet to replace its aging fleet of American-designed F-2 fighters, and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italian militaries.

Japan, which was previously working on a homegrown design to be called the F-X, agreed in December 2022 to merge its effort with a British-Italian program called the Tempest. for deployment in 2035. The joint project, known as the Global Combat Air Program or GCAP, is based in the U.K.

Japan hopes the new plane will offer advanced capabilities Japan needs amid growing tensions in the region, giving it a technological edge against regional rivals China and Russia.

Because of its wartime past as aggressor and the devastation that followed its defeat in World War II, Japan adopted a constitution that limits its military to self-defense. The country long maintained a strict policy to limit transfers of military equipment and technology and ban all exports of lethal weapons.

Opponents have criticized Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government for committing to the fighter jet project without providing an explanation to the public or seeking approval for the major policy change.

To address such concerns, the government is limiting exports of codeveloped lethal weapons to the jet for now, and has promised that no sales will be made for use in active wars.

The government also assured that the revised guideline for the time being only applies to the jet and that it would require Cabinet approval to do so. Potential purchasers will be also limited to the 15 countries that Japan has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals with.

Recent polls suggest that public opinion is divided on the plan.

In 2014, Japan began to export some nonlethal military supplies, and in a latest move last December, it approved a change that would allow sales of 80 lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors. The change cleared the way for Japan to sell U.S.-designed Patriot missiles to the United States, helping replace munitions that Washington is sending to Ukraine.

In its decision, the Cabinet said that the arms export ban on finished products would hinder efforts to develop the new jet, and limit Japan to a supporting role in the project. Italy and the U.K. are eager to make sales of the jet in order to defray development and manufacturing costs.

Kishida sought Cabinet approval before signing the GCAP agreement in February, but it was delayed by resistance from his junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito party.

The change also comes as Kishida is planning an April state visit to Washington, where he is expected to stress Japan’s readiness to take on a greater role in military and defense industry partnerships.

Exports would also help boost Japan’s defense industry, which historically has catered only to the country’s Self Defense Force, as Kishida seeks to build up the military.
Despite its effort over the past decade, the industry has still struggled to draw customers.

https://apnews.com/article/japan-fighter-jet-plan-military-uk-italy-48e8f39c549232fe13ed67ddff0bfac4

 

[Beechwood]

Hate to see it in someways, but not surprised that Japan is spending much more on the military due to China's and N Koreas military growth. Hope that America and Japan remain good friends far into the future.

 

[mjfan23]

what if they all of a sudden want revenge for Hiroshima?

Lets stop make the world more weaponized