politics

Defense ministry seeks record-high Y5.26 tril budget

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The Japanese military has been caught on the wrong foot! The missiles coming from North Korea have totally shown that Japan is basically defenseless against this type of attack.

The advice from the Japanese government to 'duck and cover' is woefully insufficient.

In addition to all the natural disasters that Japan faces, here is another man-made disaster that could impact Japan at any time and there is no credible defense against it !

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Kurisupisu.

I vote for you to run the J-Military, of course all failures are on your shoulders. No-one else will own them.

Still game?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

spend on natural disaster relief. the big tokyo one is predicted to kill 350000 and smash ageing infrastructure and an estimated 1000000 building. our defences are strong enough to stop invasion.

instead of osprey, we need helicopters, hovercraft and evacuation facilities. china will never attack, NK is at war with America not japan.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

With Trump as Japan's de facto leader in all matters militarily I'm sure the Japanese population rests easy in their beds. Two idiots in a peeing match over missiles is not a good combination. On the plus side any confrontation will be short and decisive. I just hope my kids aren't in the area when it happens.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

So, what would happen if tomorrow crazy hair 'Kim Fat Boy' launched 30 missiles all at the same time, targeting mainland Japan? How likely is that going to be? Exactly, it's never going to happen.

This whole 'media inflated' affair stinks of the US 'Military–industrial complex' wanting to dig deeper into Japans debt ridden pockets. Doing what they do to try and cook up some false defense requirements. Oh, and they also want to sell us a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist.

Even former US president Eisenhower warned us about the dirty US 'Military industrial complex' over 60 years ago... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY

I'd say use the defense budget on building more nursery schools, professional counselling and mental health clinics. Plus, hiring and training staff.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

spend on natural disaster relief. the big tokyo one is predicted to kill 350000 and smash ageing infrastructure and an estimated 1000000 building

Surely you spend on disaster relief when it happens. There's not really a lot Japan can do to avoid a big earthquake. If one hit, the government can just issue as much debt as it likes to pay for dealing with the aftermath.

our defences are strong enough to stop invasion

Who's talking about an invasion? The issue is whether Japan has sufficient defences to deal with something like a North Korean missile attack. The jury is out on that one. And it's possible North Korea might attack Japan if it thought the US would stop short of nuclear retaliation. Trump isn't exactly consistent on policy issues.

Then there's the issue of what Japan would do if China tried to seize strategic islands like the Senkakus. Those islands aren't garrisoned, so Japan needs an offensive capability to retake them, or defences to dissuade attack. China isn't going to attack today, but with such an ultra-nationalist society it's hard to predict what the Chinese Communist Party might do in the near future to preserve its rule.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Only last week the SDF was hammering some remote piece of earth,demonstrating how ready they are to fight a good old 20th century war.

Meanwhile NK is lobbing ballistic middles over their heads......

I reckon there could be a couple of things done different alright.....

0 ( +1 / -1 )

the big tokyo one is predicted to kill 350000 and smash ageing infrastructure and an estimated 1000000 building.*

Goodlucktoyou - having a house in Tokyo, I've done a fair amount of reading on predictions of the big one and have never come across a death toll nearly as high as that. It's generally been predicted to be about 10,000, the worst case being a dry windy winter day. Could you give a source for that figure?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Tokyo is pretty safe giving most predictions.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

More deficit spending.  and for no good reason.  NK is not a realistic threat and China would roll over Japan if she wanted.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

As much as their is a focus on missile defence, there needs to be an even greater focus on offence. That's where the money needs to be spent.

Why would you rely on missile defences unless you are 90%+ sure they will work. I haven't read a single article that remotely guarantee's that ballistic missile defence works. On the contrary, doubt over their effectiveness is ubiquitous. As missile technology gets faster, that doubt only grows.

Where as missile offence definitely does work. North Korea is proof of that. Without it they would be doomed. In North Korea's case they were forced to go nuclear due to the sophistication of their enemies and their enemies ability to overwhelm them on a conventional basis. They also lack reliable allies. Debatable if China or Russia would be reliable, given that losing the partnership of 25 million North Koreans is a lot easier to cop than losing the goodwill of nearly 500 million (U.S, Japan & South Korea).

Japan needs to go the "mutually assured destruction" route and start building or buying their own conventional ballistic missiles. Enough conventional ones would give North Korea plenty to think about. North Korea is a small country. Its not going to take much to build up a force of ballistic missiles that would essentially blanket the entire country if Japan were to be attacked. And they need to make sure it is a force that is capable of blanketing the the entire country, so that the North feels they have nowhere to hide, unless they live close to Pyongyang subway.

As an added bonus it makes China's reluctance to properly and consistently enforce sanctions all the more costly for them.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

There are areas that the UK and Japan can work together and develop there missile technology.

Ground and Sea Launched spear 3 is an example and share the costs.

http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2015/11/ground-and-sea-launched-spear-3/

And for F35 integration...

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2016-07-13/spear-sets-course-f-35-integration

As a gesture of good faith the UK could commit to back up United Nations revolutions with a strategic commitment.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Is that how much it costs to sanction a small nation and watch missiles fly overhead?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Much cheaper to move the US troops out of Japan.

Then there would be no reason for anyone to attack!

1 ( +5 / -4 )

The people of Japan would never countenance there governments use of nuclear weapons, or change their commitment to peace thought a pacifist constitution.

So members of the UN security council must stand by their commitment to enforce resolutions and protection through the promise of retaliation with the use of their strategic deterrent.

No ifs or buts the first Japanese city that the Pyongyang dictatorship targets must be met with overwhelming force from the UK and US arsenal of air or submarine based deterrents.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"Much cheaper to move the US troops out of Japan.

Then there would be no reason for anyone to attack!"

Exactly. Thank you for your services but we will take it from here. A few nukes should do the tricks.

China has 400 nukes vs the US's 6,800 (!) and they are safe.

Japan would need a few dozens to make its deterrence effective.

Time for Japan to go nuclear!

0 ( +4 / -4 )

When numbers become this large, they lose all meaning.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Now I understand why all the recent fearmongering

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

5.26 trillions, big money and what it will do for Japan? It will buy out NKorea nuclear program, it will resolve Skorea comfort women problem, it will clean up biological and chemical warheads left in China by Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army.

If Abe thinks that 5.26 trillions is the solution to Japanese security, then he should increase the budget by 526 trillions, 100 times more. However, what happened since he becomes PM 5 years ago? He increases the budget every and each year, is Japan safer ?

China has dominated Asia 3000 years, Japan never was threatened. In fact, Japan is benefited from it. Then, why all of sudden, a great China is a threat to Japan under Abe ?

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Is that how much it costs to sanction a small nation and watch missiles fly overhead?

Size of a nation does not matter, it is how the nation is armed, that's matters. And NK missiles fly overhead Japan only because Kim wants them to fly overhead for now, but he can change his mind. Japan should be ready for that. Well-armed and well-trained military is the most reliable way to secure peace for your country.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Japan needs a very strong self defense force. Very strong.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Really interesting photo. Looks like the second coming of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902. British PM onboard the JMSDF vessel Izumo no less...the first one, IJN Izumo built by Armstrong Whitworth UK in 1900. Fought the Russians in 1904 and served in the Mediterranean in WWI on the Allies side.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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