Japan has decided that it will lease up to five TC-90 aircraft to Philippines for marititime patrol duties instead of donating or transferring them.
By まも(Mamo) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Japan’s laws does not allow it to transfer government assets to another country for free, thus Tokyo decided to take the leasing option. Manila is expected to pay millions of yen annually for the lease.
The military derivative of the King Air will allow Philippines to cover more parts of the Spratly Archipelago, its current aircraft has only half the range of the TC-90.
The planes are lacking maritime search equipment thus the crew will have to rely on visual inspections.
[thumb]http://www.the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002780035[/thumb]