The Philippine Air Force did not receive and operate any T-4 fighter jets from Japan, contrary to a manipulated YouTube video claiming otherwise.
The baseless post uploaded on June 3 by Military Podcast featured manipulated clips of what appeared to be Philippine pilots testing fighter jets with the headline:
Good news! 20 Philippine Pilots Test the Newly Arrived T-4 Super Advanced Fighter Jet from Japan
A reverse image search of the clip at the 0:28 mark revealed that the jets were operated by Blue Impulse, the aerobatic demonstration team of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force during the yearly Miho Air Show at Yonago Kitaro Airport.
It also found that the clip at the 0:06 mark is identical to the YouTube video of the jets at Yonago Kitaro Airport uploaded by Saburo Yokota in December 2018.
The YouTube channel added a text overlay of “Philippine Airforce base ANTONIO BAUTISTA (Palawan)” and a clip of Philippine flags on the videos of T-4 planes.
At 2:01, the narrator of the video said:
The process of handing over the T-4 aircraft from Japan to the Philippines took place within an official ceremony only attended by representatives from both countries.
However, the only ceremonial turnover between the Philippines and Japan in 2024 happened on April 29, when the Department of National Defense officially received the TPS-P14ME Mobile Air Surveillance Radar System at Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo.
The radar system manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. is the second of four units the country procured from Japan as part of Horizon 2 of the AFP Modernization Program.
Military Podcast’s video has garnered over 16,200 views and 278 likes. Created in April 2019, the channel has accumulated 456,116 views and over 4,500 subscribers (KS).