The Japanese Ministry of Defence will purchase ten new P1 patrol aircraft within five years to monitor submarines and suspicious boats and to bolster security in its territorial waters.

The estimated 200bn yen ($2.4bn) purchase of the new aircraft will be included in the midterm defence plan, which will be adopted by the government in December.

The ministry had plans to decommission 20 P3C aircraft in the next five years, but later decided to retain half of the planes due to financial hitches.

The P1 aircraft is capable of travelling 1.3 times faster than the propeller-driven P3C and conduct surveillance flights for more than ten hours without being affected by the weather.

The first plane will be deployed within the next year, according to the Mainichi Daily News.

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