Bilateral military cooperation has included joint exercises, a Japanese radar aid package and a high-level strategic dialogue. Last year they signed a reciprocal access agreement, the first such for Japan in Asia, allowing deployment of forces on each other’s soil.
To clear military equipment export restrictions for the destroyers under Japan’s pacifist mandates, Tokyo will treat the installation of equipment and communication systems requested by Manila as a joint development project, the Yomiuri said.
The Abukuma-class destroyer escort, a relatively small type of destroyer with a 2,000-ton standard displacement, is operated by a crew of about 120 and is armed with anti-submarine and anti-ship missiles, torpedo tubes and guns, according to a Japanese navy website.
The Philippine Navy does not have destroyers, only frigates and corvettes, which are typically smaller and lighter-armed vessels.
