By: Wendell Minnick
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Chinese military modernization and behavior in the South China Sea and East China Sea has forced its regional neighbors to gear up for what could be a nasty war in the not too distant future.
The big four — Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan — are the primary defense spenders in the region with total defense spending and annual budgets for personnel, operations and procurement ranging from a low of $9.4 billion for Singapore and $9.8 billion for Taiwan to about $35 billion and $40 billion for South Korea and Japan, respectively.
Countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam fall significantly below that amount in the $4-6 billion range and are unable to procure large quantities of modern weapon systems. They are also far less likely to be able to operate and integrate advanced weapon systems into their force structure due to poor training, corruption and poverty, and most have a history of procuring cheap Russian equipment with a poor record of quality assurance and logistical and maintenance support.
Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are all concerned by the ballistic and cruise missile capabilities of either China, North Korea or both. In response, three three nations have improved their missile defense capabilities — with the procurement of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 ballistic missile defense systems for Japan and Taiwan, and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense for South Korea. Singapore largely focuses on short- to medium-range air defense procurements, as there is no significant missile threat from its neighbors.
This includes sea-based anti-ballistic missile systems, said Bob Nugent, a consultant at AMI International. Japan and Korea will continue to weigh investments in the Aegis Combat System for their destroyers, while maintaining enough subsurface capability to provide the current level of deterrence. “Developing a submarine-launched land-attack capability would leverage the strategic impact of their sub force even more,” he said.
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