Japan to rent MSDF training aircraft to Phillippines

Japan is to rent up to five Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force TC-90 training aircraft to the Philippines, which will be Japan's first provision of SDF aircraft to a foreign country, Japan's Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin confirmed the deal in telephone talks Monday evening, said the ministry.

The deal is expected to largely improve the Southeast Asian country's maritime surveillance capability, as TC-90 is capable of flying some 1,900 kilometers, about double of the flight range of the Philippine navy's aircraft.

Japan eased up on arms export restrictions in April 2014, allowing arms exports as long as they "serve the purpose of contributing to international cooperation and Japan's security interests", a move poised to erode Japan's pacifist image and intensify regional mistrust.

(APD)