2 Japanese Training Planes Leave for Philippines under Lease Deal

Matsushige, Tokushima Pref., March 23 (Jiji Press)--Two TC-90 Japanese maritime training aircraft departed for the Philippines on Thursday under an agreement by Tokyo to lease five such planes to Manila as part of bilateral defense cooperation. The supply of the five TC-90s will be completed by March next year. The two planes, piloted by members of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, left the MSDF airbase in Matsushige in the western prefecture of Tokushima. The aircraft will be delivered to the Philippine Navy at a ceremony on Monday. Some 40 MSDF members, including pilots and engineers, will visit the Southeast Asian country for the event. Two Philippine Navy pilots have been undergoing TC-90 flight training at the Tokushima airbase since November last year. The training period, slated to end on Friday, has been extended until May 26. Four other Philippine pilots will also join the program. The two countries reached the lease agreement last year to help the Philippine military enhance its maritime surveillance capability, a move apparently intended to counter China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. END