Manila, Feb. 27 -- The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Friday said the recent week-long multilateral training among the Philippines, Japan and the United States naval and air assets in the West Philippine Sea showed the three nations' "growing depth" of maritime cooperation.

In a statement, the AFP said the 15th multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MMCA) from Feb. 20 to 26 in the West Philippine Sea was built on similar training activities early this year.

Aside from AFP units, naval and air assets from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) participated in the drills.

Philippine assets included the Navy's BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151) with an embarked AW-159 hel...