‘Balikatan’ exercise to proceed as China warns of ‘greater insecurity’
The annual “Balikatan” exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and United States Armed Forces will proceed as scheduled next week even as China warned that it will only lead to “greater insecurity” for the Philippines.
“The AFP emphasizes that the Balikatan exercises are not directed towards any specific country,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said on Thursday, April 18, in response to the remarks made by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian urging Manila to reconsider rallying external forces to “flex military muscles” and “provoke conflicts” in the South China Sea.
“This longstanding initiative, spanning several years, is aimed at enhancing cooperation, fostering training opportunities, and strengthening regional stability,” Padilla added.
On Wednesday, April 17, Lin said that China has already made clear its position on the military cooperation between the Philippines and US.
“The Philippines needs to be fully aware that when countries outside the region are brought into the South China Sea to flex muscles and stoke confrontation, tensions could get worse and the region will only become less stable,” the Chinese spokesman stated.
“To hand over one’s security to forces outside the region will only lead to greater insecurity and turn oneself into someone else’s chess piece,” he added.
The 39th iteration of the Balikatan, which translates to shoulder to shoulder, will run from April 22 to May 10.
An estimated 16,770 AFP and US Armed Forces personnel will train together to bolster collaboration and readiness across a spectrum of critical areas including external defense operations, cyber defense, counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and interagency capacity-building.
This is aside from participants from the Australian Defense Force and French Navy who will also be joining select drills, as well as 14 countries that will send “observers” such as Japan, South Korea, India, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Germany, and New Zealand.
China did not send observers to the war games.
For the first time in the history of Balikatan, a group sail among the navies and coast guards of the AFP, US, Australia, and France will be held beyond the 12-nautical mile territorial waters of the Philippines, parts of which are being claimed by China despite the issuance of a 2016 arbitral ruling invalidating its claims.
Previous versions only included joint patrols within the country’s territorial waters.
The Balikatan Exercise is the latest in a “show of unity” by the AFP with counterparts from allied countries and strategic partners amid increasing tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) due to the aggression of Chinese vessels against Philippine vessels.
Earlier this month, a multilateral maritime cooperative activity was also conducted by the AFP with partners from the US, Japan and Australia in the WPS.
Brahmos missile system
The AFP is upbeat with the upcoming delivery of the Brahmos cruise missile system from India.
A source privy to the delivery but requested not to be named said the tentative date for the arrival of the Brahmos supersonic missile system is set on Friday, April 19, at the Clark International Airport.
The source said that the Indian missile system “[is] confirmed coming in” supposedly “to counter Chinese aggression.”
The AFP and the Department of National Defense (DND) have yet to confirm this although the military was optimistic about the integration of the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world to the capability of the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC).
“We cannot comment unless the capability is turned over to us. We will provide details as soon as the equipage are formally turned over to the AFP,” said AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla.
“[We] hope it will be turned over immediately to the AFP for its use,” added AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad.
The acquisition of the Brahmos missile system was conceptualized as early as 2017 and approved by the Office of the President in 2020 as part of the “Horizon” 2 Priority
Projects under the revised modernization program of the AFP amid tension in the West Philippine Sea involving Chinese vessels’ incursions.
Through a letter dated Dec. 31, 2021, then Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana issued the Notice of Award for the Philippine Navy’s “Shore-based Anti-ship Missile” (SBASM) Acquisition Project to the Brahmos Aerospace, a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russian rocket design bureau NPO Mashinostroyeniya.
The missile system costs US$374,962,800 or around P18.9 billion, and will be utilized by the Marine Coastal Defense Regiment to “provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine the country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippine Sea.”
According to Indian manufacturer Brahmos Aerospace, the Brahmos missile has a flight range of up to 290 km with supersonic speed all through the flight which leads to a shorter flight time and ensures a lower dispersion of its target, a quicker engagement time, and a capability that cannot be intercepted “by any known weapon system in the world.”