Overview
- A minister-led working group, announced Tuesday in Manila after talks between Defense Ministers Koizumi Shinjiro and Gilberto Teodoro Jr., will evaluate concrete transfers of Japanese defense equipment to the Philippines.
- The discussions focus on Abukuma-class destroyer escorts and TC-90 aircraft, with Naval News reporting Japan may offer ships as a grant and deliveries could begin in 2027 depending on negotiations.
- Both sides said any transfer would come with training, maintenance and sustainment support, operational coordination between their forces, information sharing, and rules for proper management of the equipment.
- Officials linked the step to Japan’s April 21 revision of its Three Principles on defense transfers, which now allow some lethal exports, and said an Abukuma deal would be the first test of the new policy.
- Japan has also deepened operations with the Philippines under a new access pact, with this year’s Balikatan exercise featuring Japan’s first surface-to-ship missile live fire in the country and a rise in Self-Defense Forces participation to about 1,400 personnel.