Philippines Seeks Additional TC-90 Aircraft from Japan to Counter China’s Growing Pressure in the South China Sea

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The Philippines is intensifying efforts to secure five additional TC-90 maritime patrol aircraft from Japan as part of a sweeping initiative to strengthen its maritime domain awareness in the increasingly volatile South China Sea.

This strategic move is emerging at a moment when Manila is facing mounting security pressures from persistent incursions and coercive actions by Chinese maritime forces in the West Philippine Sea, especially around flashpoints such as Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal.

The pursuit of these aircraft reflects Manila’s broader urgency to bridge long-standing surveillance shortfalls that have hampered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) from effectively monitoring its massive 2.2-million-square-kilometre exclusive economic zone.

Philippine Navy chief Vice Adm. Jose Ma Ambrosio Ezpeleta affirmed this accelerated effort by revealing that a joint Philippine-Japanese visual inspection team will travel to Japan before the end of 2025 to evaluate the condition of the retired aircraft that Tokyo is offering to Manila.

The planned inspection trip serves as a critical step toward determining whether Japan can proceed with the transfer of these assets under grant assistance schemes or through beneficial defence-cooperation frameworks, positioning the Philippines to further benefit from Japan’s expanding defence diplomacy.

This potential acquisition also sits within a larger matrix of bilateral negotiations that include the prospective transfer of used destroyer escorts, coastal surveillance radars, and other dual-use equipment aimed at boosting the Philippines’ maritime situational awareness.

These developments demonstrate the rapidly evolving defence relationship between Japan and the Philippines, a pillar of Indo-Pacific strategic architecture increasingly shaped by shared concerns over China’s assertive maritime posture.

Historical Trajectory of Japan-Philippines Defence Cooperation and its Strategic Significance

The modern era of Japan-Philippines defence cooperation has its origins in the decades following World War II, when Manila and Tokyo transitioned from historical grievances to building one of Asia’s most extensive diplomatic, economic, and development partnerships.

By the early 21st century, both nations were propelled closer by converging strategic interests, particularly in countering coercive maritime activities in the South China Sea and East China Sea.

A landmark shift occurred in 2011 when the two nations elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership, laying the groundwork for robust defence and security engagement.

Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), exceeding USD 13 billion (RM 61 billion) in 2024, has transformed the Philippines into the top recipient of Japanese development aid, underscoring Tokyo’s commitment to Manila’s economic and institutional resilience.

The evolution of defence cooperation accelerated dramatically under former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who both sought to modernize their armed forces and expand the scope of Japan’s constitutional interpretation to permit more proactive defence engagement.

The signing of the 2016 defence equipment and technology transfer agreement opened the door to the historic lease—and later donation—of the first five TC-90 aircraft, marking one of Japan’s earliest defence equipment transfers in the post-war period.

These initial TC-90s subsequently became deeply embedded in Philippine naval operations, conducting day-to-day patrol missions, maritime interdiction flights, and humanitarian relief operations in typhoon-affected regions.

The election of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2022 catalyzed a further surge in Japan-Philippines security ties, aligning Manila even more closely with Tokyo’s efforts to reinforce a rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific.

This alignment gained extraordinary momentum in July 2025 when the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between Japan and the Philippines officially entered into force, enabling the mutual deployment of personnel, joint exercises, and logistical cooperation at an unprecedented level.

The RAA effectively positions the Philippines as a southern strategic anchor in Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) vision by giving both countries the mechanisms to conduct joint military activities ranging from humanitarian assistance to high-end combat training.

Regional analysts have described the RAA as a “deterrence accelerator,” designed to forge a web of mutually reinforcing alliances that enhance regional stability and complicate attempts by revisionist powers to impose unilateral changes through grey-zone tactics.

The trilateral Japan-Philippines-United States (JAPHUS) framework further strengthens this architecture by coordinating intelligence-sharing, synchronized maritime operations, and joint patrols in the South China Sea.

This trilateral mechanism, born out of an April 2024 summit in Washington, has already produced high-profile activities under the Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) operations, involving naval vessels and aircraft from all three nations in contested maritime zones.

Japan’s Official Security Assistance (OSA) program, launched in 2023, further enhances this cooperative momentum by designating the Philippines as a priority recipient of non-lethal defence systems such as radars and patrol vessels.

This OSA framework is expected to play an instrumental role in facilitating the potential TC-90 transfer and future Japanese defence contributions.

TC-90 Acquisition Talks: A Strategic Imperative for Addressing Persistent Surveillance Gaps

The ongoing negotiations for the additional five TC-90 aircraft were thrust into the spotlight following a detailed November 2025 briefing, during which Vice Adm. Ezpeleta underscored the urgent operational need for more maritime patrol assets.

“We still have a lot of gaps in our maritime domain awareness capabilities, so we want to determine if we can incorporate these additional aircraft into our fleet to step up our patrols,” he stated.

These words encapsulate the core challenge facing the Philippine Navy, which has been stretched thin by the demands of continuous surveillance over disputed waters, territorial outposts, and key sea lanes essential to national security and economic sustenance.

The inspection team tasked with evaluating the TC-90s will examine structural integrity, avionics condition, remaining flight hours, and compatibility with Philippine maintenance infrastructure.

Should the aircraft pass rigorous evaluation, they could be transferred under Japan’s OSA programme or via direct grant assistance, minimizing financial burden on Manila.

Given the Philippines’ constrained defence budget—despite a 2025 allocation of PHP 256 billion (USD 4.44 billion / RM 21 billion)—grant-based acquisitions remain the most effective means for Manila to rapidly bolster its maritime capabilities.

These aircraft negotiations are intertwined with Manila’s broader interest in acquiring at least three Abukuma-class destroyer escorts that Japan has recently retired.

These 2,000-ton anti-submarine warfare (ASW) vessels would significantly expand the Philippine Navy’s deterrence posture, allowing for one ship to be deployed, another placed on rotation for maintenance, and a third dedicated to training and crew development.

Additionally, Japan is actively preparing to supply coastal surveillance radars to integrate into new Philippine forward operating bases—including the strategically important Mahatao installation in Batanes, located near the Taiwan Strait and the northernmost Philippine maritime approaches.

This layered approach of combining aircraft, ships, and sensors reflects a comprehensive Japanese-Philippine strategy to build a resilient surveillance and deterrence network.

Social media and defence community discussions in 2025 have widely circulated reports of Japan preparing to transfer up to six Abukuma-class destroyers and surplus TC-90 aircraft, with many online analysts framing the developments as a significant boost to Manila’s maritime situational awareness.

TC-90: Capabilities, Technical Performance, and Its Expanding Role in Philippine Maritime Security

The TC-90 maritime patrol aircraft—derived from the widely respected Beechcraft King Air 90—has cemented its reputation within JMSDF and the Philippine Navy as a dependable, versatile, and cost-efficient platform.

Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-21 engines producing 550 shaft horsepower each, the TC-90 boasts a maximum speed of 223 knots, enabling timely coverage of distant maritime areas when deployed from bases such as Sangley Point or Palawan.

The aircraft offers a service ceiling of 30,000 feet and an impressive range of approximately 1,321 nautical miles, making it ideal for monitoring far-flung Philippine territories and maritime features located deep within contested zones.

With a wingspan of 50 feet 3 inches, a fuselage length of 35 feet 5 inches, and short-runway compatibility, the TC-90 can operate effectively from airfields across the Philippine archipelago, including austere or remote locations.

Its cabin allows for up to nine personnel plus the pilot, creating flexibility for multi-crew missions equipped with search radars, electro-optical cameras, maritime sensors, and electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems.

Although unarmed, its modular payload configuration enables operators to tailor the aircraft for missions such as illegal fishing suppression, anti-smuggling operations, search-and-rescue efforts, and monitoring unauthorized foreign naval movements.

The five existing Philippine TC-90s have accumulated substantial operational flight hours since 2017, regularly patrolling high-tension zones around Pag-asa Island, Sabina Shoal, and the route between Palawan and Reed Bank.

Japanese assistance in avionics modernization, maintenance training, and spare parts provisioning could extend the operational life of Philippine TC-90s well beyond 2030.

Compared to higher-end platforms like the P-3C Orion or the P-8A Poseidon, the TC-90 offers a favourable cost-to-coverage ratio, making it an ideal platform for the AFP’s Horizon 3 Modernization Program, which prioritizes persistent surveillance and maritime intelligence rather than expensive high-end strike capabilities.

Strategic, Geopolitical, and Military Implications for the Indo-Pacific Security Landscape

The potential acquisition of additional TC-90s carries far-reaching implications for the evolving security architecture of the Indo-Pacific region.

For the Philippines, enhanced maritime patrol capability is central to asserting sovereign rights under the legally binding 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling, which invalidated China’s sweeping “nine-dash line” claim.

More aircraft translate into more persistent patrols, more evidence to counter illegal incursions, and greater deterrence against grey-zone tactics employed by China’s maritime militia and Coast Guard.

For Japan, the TC-90 transfer aligns with Tokyo’s redefined national security strategy, which increasingly emphasizes proactive defence partnerships and capacity-building with like-minded states across the Indo-Pacific.

This approach allows Japan to project stability, strengthen the FOIP vision, and build interoperable partnerships without violating constitutional constraints.

Chinese state media has criticized these developments as “orchestrating confrontation,” accusing Japan of fueling regional militarization—yet such criticism underscores Beijing’s discomfort with the strengthening trilateral architecture involving Japan, the Philippines, and the United States.

The strengthening of Japan-Philippines defence ties also reinforces middle-power diplomacy, enabling Manila and Tokyo to act as central pillars in a growing lattice of minilateral groupings designed to enhance regional security resilience.

This network effect could catalyze expanded cooperation with Australia, South Korea, and India, contributing to a multi-layered Indo-Pacific deterrence framework.

Environmental and humanitarian considerations also factor heavily into the TC-90’s utility, as the aircraft have proven indispensable in typhoon response missions and fisheries protection operations that directly affect food security and local livelihoods.

However, rising militarization increases the risk of miscalculation, especially following multiple confrontations between Philippine and Chinese vessels in 2025 around Ayungin Shoal and Escoda Shoal, making real-time domain awareness and rapid-response capability more essential than ever.

Future Prospects: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Path Toward a More Capable Philippine Navy

Despite widespread optimism, the Philippines faces technical, logistical, and political challenges in integrating these additional aircraft into its fleet.

Training requirements, maintenance support, and long-term sustainment must be fully addressed to avoid capability gaps similar to those experienced in previous acquisitions from international partners.

Japan’s commitment to capacity-building under the OSA framework will be crucial in enabling the Philippine Navy to operate, maintain, and upgrade the TC-90 aircraft sustainably.

Political hurdles also remain, particularly in the Philippines where domestic debates continue over the implications of increased foreign military presence following the RAA’s implementation.

Looking toward 2030, successful integration of the TC-90 aircraft could lay the foundation for even more advanced Japanese-Philippine defence collaborations, potentially including the co-development or co-production of patrol vessels, surveillance systems, or early-warning radars.

Japan has already expressed openness to exporting more advanced naval platforms and air-defence systems to the Philippines, signalling a shift toward deeper industrial and strategic cooperation.

For the Philippine Navy, the long-term modernization roadmap envisions doubling the number of maritime surveillance assets, strengthening inter-island defence connectivity, and fielding a more capable fleet equipped with Japanese-supported technology.

The pursuit of five additional TC-90 maritime patrol aircraft thus stands as a critical component of this forward-leaning vision—one that reinforces Manila’s capacity to safeguard its maritime sovereignty, protect its natural resources, and uphold a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific.

In the broader strategic landscape, this deepening Japan-Philippines partnership sends a clear signal that like-minded nations are stepping up cooperation to counter destabilizing actions and maintain peace across the South China Sea.

As inspection teams prepare to travel to Japan and both sides refine the framework for transfer, regional observers are closely monitoring the outcome, recognizing that the success of this initiative may set the tone for future Indo-Pacific security collaborations.

The coming years will determine whether this partnership can evolve into a model for regional defence cooperation that strengthens deterrence, enhances interoperability, and contributes meaningfully to long-term maritime stability. — DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA