Amid growing threats from China and North Korea, Japan is reportedly planning to resume anti-missile evacuation drills, a program that has been suspended for four years.
Meanwhile, the government announced independent research and development (R&D) and mass production of new missiles. It also accelerated the upgrade of the self-defense force to better respond to security threats in the country’s surrounding areas.
The drills are expected to be held in ten municipalities in eight prefectures—including Hokkaido, Niigata, Kagawa, and Okinawa—from late September to late January of next year, enacting under the assumption that a ballistic missile powerful enough to reach Japan had been fired.
Information regarding the drills will be communicated through public wireless systems and other methods aimed at allowing the public to quickly evacuate to sturdy buildings and underground shelters.
According to the report, the Japanese government suspended the drills after June 2018, following the U.S.-North Korea summit between then U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Due to Trump’s foreign policy intervention, North Korea did not conduct any missile or nuclear tests in 2018. The vastly improved regional security during the Trump era had led the Japanese government to suspend the anti-missile drills.
Threats From the CCP
In addition to threats from North Korea, Japan is also taking measures to build up its strength as the Taiwan conflict flare-up.The Japanese Cabinet approved the annual fiscal and economic policy roadmap, the first such policy guidelines released under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration.
The missiles were launched as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) retaliatory military exercises against Taiwan, which had cut off several international air and sea paths to the island in a blockade.
Following the incident, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, on Aug. 5, called for the “immediate suspension” of Chinese military drills around Taiwan.
Kishida strongly condemned Beijing’s move and reaffirmed Japan’s willingness to work closely with the United States to maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Development of Longer-Range Missiles to Counter China
On Aug 31, Japan said it would develop and mass produce a cruise missile and a high-velocity ballistic missile with the ability to strike more distant targets as part of a military expansion aimed at meeting threats from China and Russia.The procurement plan unveiled in the Ministry of Defense’s annual budget request represents a clear departure from a decades-long range limit imposed on Japan’s constitutionally constrained Self Defense Forces, which meant they could only field missiles with ranges of a few hundred kilometers.
“China continues to threaten to use force to unilaterally change the status quo and is deepening its alliance with Russia,” the ministry said in its budget request.
“It is also applying pressure around Taiwan with supposed military exercises and has not renounced the use of military force as a way to unite Taiwan with the rest of China,” it said.
Alarm about the Chinese regime’s regional ambitions grew last month after it fired five ballistic missiles into waters less than 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Japan in a show of force after Pelosi’s visited Taiwan.
The budget request is for funding to mass produce ground-launched cruise missiles, an extended range version of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries designed Type 12 missile already in use to strike ships, and a new, high-velocity glide ballistic missiles capable of hitting ground targets.
The ministry is also seeking money to develop other projectiles, including hypersonic warheads, which the ministry said would likely be able to reach targets in mainland China if deployed along Japan’s nearby southwest Okinawa island chain.
Japan has already ordered air-launched missiles, including the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) made by Norway’s Kongsberg and Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-Off Missile (JASSM) with a range of up to 1,000 km (620 miles).
In addition to increasing its stockpile of missiles and other munitions, Japan’s military wants to develop its cyber defenses, electromagnetic warfare capabilities, and space presence.
Record Expansion of Japan’s Military Budget
In December last year, Japan’s Cabinet approved a record 5.4 trillion yen ($47 billion) defense budget for fiscal 2022 that included funding for research and development of a new fighter jet and other “game-changing” weapons. The move was aimed to bolster the country’s defense capabilities against China’s growing military and aggression toward Taiwan.The budget included a record high 291 billion yen ($2.55 billion) for defense research and development, up 38 percent from 2021.
Of that, 100 billion yen ($870 million) is for developing the F-X fighter jet to replace Japan’s aging fleet of F-2 aircraft around 2035. It would be Japan’s first domestically developed fighter jet in 40 years.
Late last year, Japan and Britain announced the joint development of a future demonstration fighter jet engine and agreed to explore further combat air technologies and subsystems. The project includes Mitsubishi and IHI in Japan and Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems in the UK.
As China’s military buildup extends to cyberspace and outer space, Japan’s Defense Ministry is also pushing for research into artificial intelligence-operated autonomous vehicles for aerial and undersea use, supersonic flight, and other “game-changing” technologies.
The budget allocates 128 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for the purchase of a dozen F-35 stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin Corp., including four with short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities for use on two helicopter carriers being converted into aircraft carriers, the key to Japan’s joint operations with the United States in defense of the Indo–Pacific region.
He was known for his hawkish stance on China, following his revitalizing of the Quad forum and nationalizing the uninhabited Senkaku Islands that China claims as part of its territory and calls the Diaoyu Islands.
Abe, who stepped down as prime minister in 2020, said an armed invasion of Taiwan would pose a serious threat to Japan, given that the Senkaku Islands, Sakishima Islands, and Yonaguni Island are only 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Chinese-claimed island.
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