Japan-PH Military Exercise to Start this Month, P3-Orion Aircraft to Arrive in Advance
Manila/Tokyo | After 70 years since WW2, Japanese military in large number will visit the Philippines for the first time with heavy armaments and sophisticated weaponry. The two day exercise from on June 24 and 25 will allow the Philippine military to have access to modern military technology according to Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento, vice chairman of the House committee on national defense and security.
“We will announce the details such as the schedule and assets we will send as soon as the plan is fixed,” Tomohisa Takei, chief of staff for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, told media in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Included among the equipment to participate is Japan’s P3-orion surveillance aircraft. P3-orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft. This sophisticated aircraft is one of the equipment that Philippines would like to acquire in the future according to navy spokesman who refused to identify himself.
“We will announce the details such as the schedule and assets we will send as soon as the plan is fixed,” Tomohisa Takei, chief of staff for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, told media in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan is also considering joint maritime air patrols in the South China Sea with the United States as a counterweight to China’s growing power, sources told Reuters in April.
Philippine Navy spokesman Edgard Arevalo said the Philippine Navy and Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force were exploring areas of training and cooperation including humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
Must Read: Works on New Naval Base Near Spratly Progresses Faster than Expected
Aquino and Abe also agreed to discuss transfers of defense technology and equipment that could help the Philippine’s beef up patrols in areas of the South China Sea also claimed by China. With a much bigger navy, China is better able to push its claims.
In a separate statement released on Tuesday, Arevalo said the two-day exercise is part of JMSDF’s country visit on June 22 to 26.
Japan is currently building ten patrol vessels for the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard in order to boost the country’s weaker Navy. The visiting Japanese military is not a welcome act for China but both Japan and the Philippines claims its for humanitarian purposes only.
/Oto Melara/ Assisted Press
