The government on Sunday approved a defense buildup program for fiscal 2001 that includes the development of several tanks, jet fighters, and advanced antisubmarine patrol planes, Defense Agency chief Toshitsugu Saito said.
to said the antisubmarine planes, approved in a Security Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, aim to replace the Self-Defense Forces' P-3C jets and C-1 cargo craft through expenditures of 34 billion yen over the next decade.
He said the agency wants to develop the next-generation aircraft in Japan as "we cannot find the functions and systems (we require) anywhere in the world, and decided to develop the aircraft ourselves."
The council also decided to cut the total number of Ground Self-Defense Force personnel by 3,600, while adding about 830 reserve officers and roughly 100 workers to the Joint Staff Council.
In addition, the Security Council authorized the deployment or manufacture in fiscal 2001 of 12 F-2 support fighters, 18 90-type tanks, one destroyer and one submarine.
On Sunday, the government approved a record-high 4.955 trillion yen for defense spending in the budget for fiscal 2001, which starts April 1, up 0.4 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year.
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