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Like Washington and Taipei, Tokyo has undertaken in recent years to transform the Japanese self-defense forces, to prepare for a possible conflict with Beijing.
Thus, since 2019, the trajectory given by the authorities of the country, and the Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, aims to modernize and extend the means available to its armed forces to deter and, if necessary, resist an attack by the armed forces. People's Liberation Army.
To do this, and after intense political negotiations which notably made it possible to break the glass ceiling of a defense effort limited to 1% of GDP, Tokyo undertook to bring this same defense effort to 2% of the country's GDP, or $100 billion, by 2027.
However, the Japanese self-defense forces are facing significant difficulties in recruiting and retaining its staff, even more noticeably than for other Western armies, while Japanese demography is characterized by a rapid aging of the population, and even a significant demographic decline in the decades to come.
7 billion yen in 700 for the Japanese self-defense forces
It is in this context marked by a major threat, relatively short deadlines for reacting, high ambitions and significant constraints, that the country's authorities have prepared the 2024 defense budget, as part of the 2022-2027 five-year plan providing for an overall allocation of 43 billion yen, or €000 billion.
As might be expected, this is characterized by a significant increase in resources, with a total budget of 7 billion yen, or €700 billion and a 12% increase compared to the 2023 budget of 6 billion yen (€820 billion), already up sharply.
According to the comments of the country's authorities, this increase will notably make it possible to finance the construction of a new integrated command post bringing together the three armed forces of the country, like the American Pentagon, for an amount of 10,5 billion yen. .
Above all, it will make it possible to finance several programs announced recently, such as the construction of two AEGIS heavy destroyers which will replace the AEGIS Ashore device abandoned in 2021, to protect the Japanese islands from ballistic attacks from China, North Korea or Russia.
In 2024 alone, this program will receive 380 billion yen (€2,4 billion) to finance the research and design work of the two ships which should enter service by the end of the decade.
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