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Japan boosts military budget
http://www.fayobserver.com/military/japan-boosts-military-budget/article_396a645d-fa9c-55df-9697-324a493aef97.htmlJapan boosts military budget
Posted: Sunday, January 18, 2015 12:00 am
TOKYO - Japan's Cabinet approved the country's largest ever defense budget Wednesday, including plans to buy surveillance aircraft, drones and F-35 fighter jets to help counter China's rising assertiveness in the region.
~snip~
The 2 percent rise in defense spending is the third annual increase under Abe, who took office in 2012 and ended 11 straight years of defense budget cuts.
The increase mainly covers new equipment, including P-1 surveillance aircraft, F-35 fighter jets and amphibious vehicles for a new unit similar to the U.S. Marine Corps. The aim is to boost Japan's capacity to defend uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that it controls but which are also claimed by China.
The budget also covers the cost of two Aegis radar-equipped destroyers and missile defense system development with Washington.
