Tokyo, Dec 23: The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday approved a record draft defence budget for fiscal 2018 totaling 5.19 trillion yen ($46 billion) as it seeks to introduce a new missile defence system and new cruise missiles that could be used in pre-emptive strikes against North Korea.
The size of the draft budget, up 1.3 percent on year, is the largest ever and is in line with the government’s programme of beefing up the nation’s defence capacities amid concerns over North Korea as well as China’s maritime assertiveness.
Kyodo news agency reported that around 730 million yen has been set aside to prepare for the introduction of the U.S.-developed land-based Aegis missile defence system, which will add to the existing missile shield involving Aegis destroyers equipped with Standard Missile-3 interceptors and the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors deployed on the ground.
