LOC11:27
08:27 GMT
TOKYO, Dec 18 (KUNA) -- The Japanese government on Tuesday approved new defense guidelines to deploy aircraft carriers for the first time since the end of World War II and strengthen its weapons capability.
The new 10-year National Defense Program Guidelines, approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet, aim at countering China's growing assertiveness on the sea and in the air as well as in outer space and cyber space, and threats posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles.
The guidelines also call for establishment of a new space unit that will monitor outer space and cyber space, along with the conventional domains of land, sea and air.
In order to beef up its defense capability in the Pacific Ocean, the government plans to upgrade the country's biggest destroyer Izumo over the next five years, the policy said.
"The new guidelines show what Japan truly needs to protect the people and portrayed what Japan's future defense should be," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference. "We will secure both the quantity and quality of defense capability that is necessary to meet the rapidly changing security environment," the top government spokesman noted.
According to the 5-year the Mid-Term Defense Plan beginning from fiscal 2019, which was also endorsed by the Cabinet on Tuesday, the government plans to deploy US-made 42 F-35B stealth fighter jets and 63 conventional F-35As to replace aging F-15S fighters.
The budget for the plan during the fiscal 2019-2023 is expected to reach a record-high JPY 27.5 trillion (USD 244 billion). (end)
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