Japan will provide the Philippine Air Force and Philippine Navy with at least 1.6-billion-yen worth of defence equipment under a new Official Security Assistance (OSA) package for fiscal year 2024.
The OSA was signed by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Japanese Ambassador Endo at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on 5 December in the presence of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the latest OSA package will cover the acquisition of rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs), coastal radar systems and other equipment to improve the Philippine Navy’s maritime domain awareness (MDA) capabilities, while the Philippine Air Force will receive receive additional equipment to support the air surveillance radar system that it had earlier acquired from Japan.
“We sincerely hope that the provision of these items will be of great use for our friends facing strategic challenges,” said Endo. “All of these elements are aimed at safeguarding Philippine sovereignty and securing national territory through improving its MDA capabilities and monitoring and surveillance capabilities.”
The first OSA, worth around 600 million yen, was used to acquire coastal radars in 2023.
The Philippines also acquired three fixed long range and one mobile radar systems from Japan under a government-to-government transaction worth approximately US$103.5 million provisioned for under the Philippine armed forces’ Horizon 2 Air Surveillance Radar System acquisition project.
The radar supplier, Mitsubishi Electric noted that the first system was delivered to the Philippine Air Force in October 2023.
The air defence radar contract is a significant achievement for Japan, representing the country’s first major defence export success since it relaxed its strict postwar policies on arms transfers.
Although the radar type was not indicated in the announcement it had been previously reported that the fixed sites might receive the improved version of MELCO’s J/FPS-3 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the mobile J/TPS-P14 radar.
The Philippine Coast Guard has also acquired 44 m and 94 m Multirole Response Vessels (MRRVs) from Japan via other loan mechanisms.
by Jr Ng
