Japan Boosts Missile Defense Spending for Next Year

Japan plans to increase funding for missile defense in fiscal 2006 to $1.2 billion, up from just more than $1 billion this year, the Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 15).

Despite reductions in the total defense budget, a draft funding plan proposed yesterday by the Finance Ministry contains increases for capabilities aimed at defending against nuclear, biological and chemical strikes, according to Kyodo News.

Tokyo plans to spend more than $162 million on a ground-based radar system for missile detection, more than $588 million to improve the Patriot interceptor system and nearly $87 million to acquire Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missiles, Xinhua reported (Xinhua/Angola Press, Dec. 20).

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