Japan seeks record defense funding boost amid China threats

Japan's Defense Ministry is planning to request a record budget of over 8 trillion yen ($54 billion) for fiscal 2025, featuring the deployment of drones to better protect remote islands amid China's growing military assertiveness, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.

It would be the first time the ministry has sought more than 8 trillion yen, surpassing the record 7.9 trillion yen initial budget for fiscal 2024, which runs through next March.

The request for the fiscal year starting in April next year would contain costs to acquire attack drones for the security of the southwestern Nansei island chain, which is strategically important for its proximity to Taiwan, the sources said.

The combat drones, considered "game-changers" in future battles and slated for full deployment to the Self-Defense Forces, are part of the government's policy of bolstering "unmanned defense capabilities."

Japan has been sharply increasing its defense budget after the government had pledged to pour in a combined 43 trillion yen for five years through fiscal 2027.

The annual defense outlays had long been capped at some 1 percent of gross domestic product, or a little more than 5 trillion yen.

But under three key security documents, updated in 2022 amid mounting security challenges, including those posed by North Korea and Russia, the government has set a goal of nearly doubling annual defense spending to about 2 percent of GDP over the same five years.