Largest Balikatan between PH, US unfolds next week

THE Philippines and the United States will hold next week what they described as the “most expansive” Balikatan military exercises in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), among other areas, with more than a dozen countries serving as observers in the largest bilateral exercises.

The US Embassy in the Philippines said at least 16,000 troops from the Philippines and the US will show their joint forces before observers from Brunei Darussalam, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

For the first time, troops from the French Navy will also join the drills,

along with contingents from the Australian Defence Force.

The exercises, called Balikatan or “shoulder to shoulder,” will be held from April 22 to May 10.

During the war games, participating troops will execute a range of complex missions across domains, including maritime security, sensing and targeting, air and missile defense, dynamic missile strikes, cyber defense, and information operations, the embassy said.

The Philippine Navy, the US Navy, and the French Navy will also conduct a Multilateral Maritime Exercise in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, the West Philippine Sea that is claimed by China to be part of its territorial waters.

“Each year, we work closely with AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) senior leaders to make Balikatan more challenging. This year, we’ve increased the scope, scale, and complexity across all domains,” said Lt. Gen. William Jurney, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces in the Pacific.

“We’re building military readiness across the full range of combined and joint operations. It’s our most expansive Balikatan yet,” he added.