By Prashanth Parameswaran
Tokyo and Manila are preparing for yet another joint maritime drill.
Japan and the Philippines plan to hold a joint maritime drill later this month near the South China Sea, local media sources reported.
The exact details of the exercise have yet to be fully disclosed. According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, the two countries will carry out exercises near the South China Sea later this month. Tomohisa Takei, chief of staff for Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), said that Japan would announce further specifics like the schedule and the assets to be sent “as soon as the plan is fixed.” But NHK reported that Japanese defense sources had suggested Monday that the MSDF would dispatch a P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft to the drill, while the Philippine Navy (PN) would send a vessel and a plane to the sea.
Read the full story at The Diplomat