Japan ‘to buy more American military equipment to counter China, Russia’
Japan has approved defense plans to buy more American stealth fighters and other equipment in order to boost its capabilities against regional powers Russia and China.
The Japanese government said in two new defense papers — both of them approved on Tuesday — that in recognition of the rising powers of China and Russia, it had decided to bolster its military power through the purchase of American weaponry.
US ally Japan is already under America’s so-called security umbrella, but the defense papers indicated that Tokyo would want to improve its own capabilities.
“The United States remains the world’s most powerful nation, but national rivalries are surfacing and we recognize the importance of the strategic competition with both China and Russia as they challenge the regional order,” said a 10-year defense program outline approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government.
According to another paper, planned to be implemented in five years, Japan will buy 45 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters, worth around four billion dollars, in addition to the 42 jets already on order.
The defense paper also said that two large ships, the Izumo and Kaga, would be converted into aircraft carriers for the first time since World War II.
Japan will also buy other US-made equipment, including two land-based Aegis Ashore air defense radars, four Boeing Co KC-46 Pegasus refueling planes, and nine Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye early-warning planes.
Japan has already announced that it will spend a record 242 billion dollars on military equipment over the next five years, 6.4 percent higher than the previous five-year plan.
The new purchases may help Japan avoid a trade war with the US. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on auto imports from Japan to cut Washington’s trade deficit with Tokyo.
Japan’s government is also buying longer-range Raytheon SM-3 interceptor missiles to strike enemy warheads in space. Tokyo also plans to boost its cyber security as well as space defense, according to the papers.
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