Japan weighs nearly doubling defence spending over five years, sources say
Tokyo is considering 70 trillion yen to 80 trillion yen in defence build-up spending from April 2027, up from about 43 trillion yen now.
Japan's government and ruling coalition are considering nearly doubling defence spending over the next five years as part of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's push to strengthen the country's military capabilities, The Straits Times reported, carrying a Reuters story that cited two people familiar with the matter.
The plan would set defence build-up spending at 70 trillion yen to 80 trillion yen for the five years from April 2027. That is about 1.8 times the roughly 43 trillion yen allocated under the current five-year plan, which began in fiscal year 2023. The Japan Times, also citing sources, said the spending would be nearly twice that in the current plan.
The two outlets' headlines put different dollar figures on the plan. The Japan Times gave $500 billion and The Straits Times $600 billion. The body of The Straits Times report converted the yen range to S$567 billion to S$648 billion.
One source told Reuters the new spending is expected to fund purchases such as large numbers of drones. The same source said a weaker yen has pushed up the cost of buying defence equipment.
The second source said the final figure could land in the mid-to-late 70 trillion yen range, but questioned whether such a sum would be enough given the security environment in East Asia. That person said the number was subject to debate between the government and coalition partners.
Under the current programme, drawn up at the end of 2022, Japan sharply raised planned defence spending from an initial allocation of 27.5 trillion yen. That programme focused on long-range missiles intended for counter-strike capabilities, as well as ammunition and spare parts for military equipment.
Japan's Defence Ministry said it had no comment at this point. The figure could still change as the government compiles the budget towards the year-end and revises its three security-related documents.
Sources: The Japan Times, Japan weighs $500 billion defense spending plan, sources say; The Straits Times, Japan weighs $600 billion defence spending plan, sources say.
