The bonus puts
The increase reflects a rise in tensions in the Southwest
It's possible that China's newly attained military independence, coupled with global economic ascension, has fueled bolder and bolder behavior.
Meanwhile Japan and
The defense budgets of both U.S. Pacific allies pale in comparison to China's, which is slated to exceed that of the U.S. by the year 2030. China has also been recently dabbling in the drone race, but the technology, like its jets, is largely as of yet unproven.
North Korea, on the other hand, has a GDP roughly the size of North Dakota, yet four times the population. However, they spend approximately a third of that on defense (while their population starves).
Some rather hawkish reports say Japan needs to increase defense spending even further, but America has been whistling its intent to "pivot" to the Pacific and the modest spending of its two biggest Asian allies could signal reliance on the super power to save the day.
Other analysts say the day needs no saving since that China is no military threat: they still can't produce adequate jet engines on their own, and their defense contractors are still making the transition from state-owned to private.
Unlike that of the U.S. and its allies, China's military is untested and their political body seems to lack the will to use that newly developed might — preferring instead to wield less perceptively invasive economic and cyber power.
Couple America's pivot to the Pacific with the arms race and the scramble to weaponize cyberspace, and the tense situation in Southwest Asia is like nothing seen since the Cold War.