TOKYO -- More than 40% of key defense hardware that Japan plans to introduce by the end of fiscal 2018 has not been fully budgeted for, and even some that has is behind schedule for deployment, leaving potentially serious gaps in this country's security capabilities.
The delays come even as Japan's defense spending climbs to new heights. The fiscal 2018 budget proposal approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government in December seeks a record 5.19 trillion yen ($45.8 billion) for defense, a 1.3% year-on-year increase.
