pilots even if it expanded its fleet of fighter jets he added if theres more cash ito advocates spending on nontraditional items such as recruiting white hat hackers to help protect power networksjapans sdf has about 16000 fewer personnel than envisaged in the budget that shortfall is partly due to a lack of ageappropriate candidates in the worlds most elderly country but also a parsimonious attitude to pay according to expertspersonnel management and the overall wellbeing of the japanese military personnel should take center stage said alessio patalano professor of war strategy in east asia at kings college london who described current sdf pay and support as just not adequatea university graduate joining the forces at officer level gets a salary of about 36 million yen 26400 in the first year rising to 6 million by the age of 40 according to the ministry of defence this may be supplemented by allowances for dangerous postings a us army officer is likely to be on about 62000 after four years experience concerns that japan may lack staying power if a conflict breaks out should be addressed by building up stockpiles of ammunition fuel and parts as well as logistics units according to corey wallace an assistant professor at kanagawa university in yokohamajapan has been gradually increasing its defence outlays for the past decade after a policy uturn initiated by the late prime minister shinzo abe when he came to office in 2012 plans for a hike have met a positive reaction in opinion polls following the outbreak of war in ukraine with about 50 of respondents to a june survey by jiji press approving of an increase nevertheless most balked at a doubling the budget in the worlds most heavily indebted country that split over the extent of the change could spark a political standoff said aurelia george mulgan a professor specializing in japanese politics and regional security at the university of new south wales she sees a possible battle down the road between kishida and his new defence minister yasukazu hamada who may seek to keep spending under control and hawks in the ruling liberal democratic party meanwhile some warn bolstering defences may not achieve the results japan is hoping for unless its accompanied by the right diplomatic and economic policy japan cannot make itself more secure just by increasing its defence spending said naoko aoki nonresident senior fellow at the atlantic council asia security initiative enhancing japans defence capabilities could appear threatening to others in the region leading them to respond in kind and leaving no one better off than before