The largest aircraft carrier in the United States, Japan, lacks security guarantees from the occupying American forces. The Land of the Rising Sun is making independent attempts to arm itself.
The Japanese, of course, see powerful China as the main threat, which is methodically increasing budgetary allocations for defense - in 2019 they will increase by 7.5%, which in absolute terms amounts to $ 177.5 billion. Also important is the "threat" from the Russian Federation, with which Japan still does not have a peace treaty, but there are disputed territories.
Most experts see the weakening of the influence of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region as one of the reasons for this policy of the Japanese. And without the support of the American occupation forces, Japan will not last long in the event of a turmoil.
At the same time, almost all defense initiatives of the Japanese are impossible without the influence of American arms corporations. So the development of a new anti-missile radar system for ships is carried out with the involvement of overseas specialists, which is both cheaper and easier. It is assumed that the cost of work on the topic will not exceed $ 20 million, and the final product will have a constant all-round view. This compares favorably with the AN / SPQ-9B system, the locator of which has many blank spots. The new locator will intercept supersonic missiles from potential adversaries: Russia, North Korea and China.
Shinzo Abe is the main ideologue of Japan's military buildup. The prime minister even promises to rewrite the constitution for this.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the main ideologue of the military build-up, said in this regard in early March:
“The security environment around Japan is deteriorating at an unprecedented rate. We cannot protect this country by limiting ourselves only to the traditional framework. Guided by the new defense principles, we will actively promote various reforms to increase defense power."
At the same time, it is planned not only to start developing new weapons systems, but to make the necessary changes to the Constitution of Japan, which, as you know, is notable for its pacifist sense. It directly indicates the prohibition of the formation of a full-fledged army - only the Self-Defense Forces. The question is, will this be the first step in the development strategy of the new militaristic Japan, our eastern neighbor? It is worth noting separately that Abe's new defense initiative is essentially not new - Japan has been steadily increasing spending on the army for a long time. Every year since 2013, the Japanese have increased their military spending by an average of 1-1.5%, and in 2017 they peaked at $ 46.6 billion. Compare this with China's 177.5 billion, America's 686 billion, and Russia's 46 billion.
The Chinese army is the main irritant for Japan
At the same time, the Japanese until recently very clearly adhered to the restriction not to spend more than 1% of GDP on military spending. In 2017, they even overdid it a little, and the level of defense spending relative to gross domestic product was the minimum 0.93%. At the same time, in absolute terms, expenses have increased - all due to the good overall growth of the economy of the island state. Among the items of the defense budget of 2017 (the Japanese fiscal year starts on April 1 and ends on March 31), the largest growth was recorded in the direction of purchases of new military equipment and research work. Obviously, the 2018 financial year will not be an exception: the Japanese will continue to purchase equipment and develop advanced weapons. The priorities remain technologies of guaranteed interception of ballistic missiles, the development of the reconnaissance potential of troops, the leveling of threats in cyberspace and outer space, as well as the protection of the territory from cruise missiles.
One cannot fail to note the dissatisfaction of the Japanese population with growing defense spending. If in 2016 there were 332 dollars of military spending per inhabitant, then in 2017 this figure climbed to 351 dollars. In addition, many Japanese remember what the past militaristic initiatives have led to. However, the Chinese arms spending haunted the Japanese leadership. Even the soothing tone of the Chinese Ministry of Defense, which laments the hungry period of "budget austerity" that reigned in China until the early 2000s, does not help. And now China has to rebuild dilapidated military factories, train people and increase profitability. In addition, the official newspaper of the Chinese army, Jiefangjun Bao, mentions the high costs of peacekeeping missions of the Chinese UN contingent. An example is the ten-year mission of the Chinese naval forces to protect civilian ships from Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. A lot of money from China's military budget is spent on maintaining the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, which was created in 2018 in connection with massive redundancies (up to 300 thousand people) in the army three years earlier. It seems that no one in China knows what to do with retirees - in 2018, only 80 thousand former military personnel were employed. And they do not just sit at home, they take to the streets and demand the prescribed benefits and pensions.
The latest ASM-3 should be the basis for an even longer-range anti-ship missile
How does Japan react to such explanations from China? She arms herself. One of the Japanese novelties, which may soon be on alert, will be an unobtrusive anti-ship missile capable of reaching a target at a distance of up to 400 km. The main irritant of such a project was a noticeable increase in China's naval power, as well as the activation of the Russian Pacific Fleet. When developing a novelty, Japanese engineers plan to use the experience of creating their own air-launched anti-ship missile ASM-3, which was adopted in 2017. Also in the new budget, it is planned to rebuild two Izumo destroyers-helicopter carriers into defective aircraft carriers, which will be able to board the F-35B. The latter in the amount of 42 copies are planned to be purchased in the USA.
Helicopter carrier Izumo should become an aircraft carrier in the near future
In general, the Japanese plan to spend about $ 280 billion on the army in five years and noticeably shift the emphasis from the ground component of the army to the sea and air. There are plans to increase the anti-missile defense bases from 3 to 6, and also to expand the fleet of submarines from 16 to 22. However, it is worth remembering that with all the ambitions of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, a considerable part of the money, as before, will be spent on reconfiguring the basing system of the US Armed Forces for territory of the island state. That is, for the maintenance of the occupation forces.
Japan is still unable to pursue a fully independent foreign and domestic policy. Samurai militarism 2.0 will have to be postponed until better times.
