DA budget request includes U.S. military realignment cost

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DA budget request includes U.S. military realignment cost

The Defense Agency on August 31 submitted its FY 2007 budget request totaling 4.9 trillion yen, up 73 billion yen or 1.5 percent from the previous year.

The request includes, for the first time, budgets relating to the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan "in order to implement the plan appropriately and promptly."

The U.S. realignment -related budgets include:

- survey for the planned construction of a new U.S. base on the coastline of U.S. Camp Schwab (Okinawa)

- survey for the planned relocation of a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft unit to U.S. Iwakuni Air Station (Yamaguchi)

- relocation of the training of a U.S. fighter squadron from U.S. Kadena Air Base (Okinawa) to mainland Japan

- survey for the planned relocation of the Ground Self-Defense Force Central Rapid Readiness Group Command to U.S. Camp Zama (Kanagawa)

- facility construction for the relocation of the Air SDF air defense command to U.S. Yokota Air Base (Tokyo)

- facility construction for the deployment of U.S. X-band radar at ASDF Shariki Air Station (Aomori)

The agency requested 219 billion yen for the missile defense system, 1.6 times or 79 billion yen more than the previous year. The DA is planning to introduce ahead of schedule the Patriot Advance Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air interceptor missiles, which the agency began to procure in FY 2004.
- Akahata, September 1, 2006