Japan plans to spend about 5 trillion yen ($37 billion) over the next five years to develop and deploy long-range missiles amid growing military threats in the region.
Tokyo wants possess an enemy base strike capability in the face of China's military buildup and North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported Wednesday.
According to earlier media reports, Japan is also considering purchasing cruise missiles from its protecting power, the US.The acquisition of such offensive weapons is controversial in Japan, given its pacifist postwar constitution. The country's security policy has so far focused exclusively on defence.
However, against the background of an increasingly tense security situation, the G7 country now wants to drastically expand its defence capabilities.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling party aims to increase Japan's defence spending to at least 2% of gross domestic product over the next five years. Japan has long capped its annual defence budget at around 1% of GDP, Kyodo reported.
