Forces: September 24, 2004

Archives

The Japanese defense budget, one of the largest in the world, is going up 1.2 percent next year, to $45 billion. The Japanese armed forces are reorganizing, with less emphasis on traditional ground forces, and more money going into ballistic missile defense, and counter-terrorism. The army has already been shrunk, and efforts are underway to create ground troops capable of dealing with peacekeeping, or commando operations. Billions of dollars will go into buying American ballistic missile defense systems. This will provide some protection from North Korean, as well as Chinese, missiles. 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close