Japan signs deal to give the Philippine military a coastal radar and surveillance drones

Japan will give the Philippine military a coastal radar system and surveillance drones worth 4.3 billion yen, about 27 million US dollars, under its Official Security Assistance programme, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Monday 9 November. Japan's ambassador in Manila, Katsuro Kitagawa, and Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro signed the agreements in the Philippine capital the same day.

According to the ministry, as reported by Kyodo News, the radar system is destined for the Philippine Navy, while the unmanned aerial vehicles will go to the Philippine Air Force for surveillance missions. Kyodo reported that the coastal radar will be the first finished defence product made in Japan to be transferred under the programme, which Tokyo launched in 2023. The Spanish news agency EFE likewise described the package as the first delivery of military equipment under the scheme.

The ministry said in its release that the project was of great importance for advancing security cooperation between the two countries, for protecting sea lanes that matter to Japan and for helping to maintain regional peace and stability. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, citing the same ministry, reported that the equipment is expected to improve the Philippine military's maritime situational awareness and its ability to keep watch over surrounding waters. None of the reports named the radar model, the type of drone or a delivery schedule.

The Philippines has been chosen as a recipient of Official Security Assistance in every year since the programme began, Yonhap reported, making this the fourth year in a row. The first project ever carried out under the framework was a 600 million yen grant signed in Manila in November 2023, which Japan's Foreign Ministry said at the time would supply coastal radar systems to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in particular the navy, to strengthen coastal surveillance and maritime domain awareness.

In that 2023 announcement, the Japanese ministry described the scheme as a cooperation framework for the armed forces of partner countries, providing equipment, supplies and help with infrastructure to strengthen their security and deterrence capabilities. It said the Philippines faces sea lanes important to Japan, including the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait, and that better monitoring of those waters by the Philippine Navy was both timely and crucial.

The new package adds to a run of defence agreements between Tokyo and Manila. EFE noted that the two governments concluded a Reciprocal Access Agreement in July 2024 that allows their forces to deploy to each other's territory, and that the pact was ratified in 2025. Kyodo said security cooperation between the two US allies has deepened in recent years as both share concerns over China's growing military activity in the Indo-Pacific.

Japan and the Philippines are each locked in separate territorial disputes with China. Beijing claims the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which Japan controls, and it contests large parts of the South China Sea with the Philippines and other neighbours.

For Taiwan, the deal matters because of where the Philippine military is expected to look. The Luzon Strait, which Japan's Foreign Ministry named in 2023 as one of the sea lanes it wants Manila to watch, separates Taiwan from the northern Philippines and links the South China Sea with the western Pacific. Coastal radar and surveillance drones in Philippine hands would add another set of sensors on Taiwan's southern approaches, although their value will depend on where the equipment is based and how soon it arrives, details that have not yet been made public.