The ‘most extensive’ annual war games between the US Army and the Philippine Army are underway

MANILA – A more complex, extensive and evolved ‘Balikatan’ (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercise will start on Monday, with more countries and local security forces participating as observers.

The 39th edition of the annual war games between the US Army and the Armed Forces of the Philippines is expected to be joined by more than 16,000 personnel, including contingents from the Australian Defense Force, French Navy and Philippine Coast Guard.

As part of the AFP’s international observer program, 14 countries, including Britain, Brunei, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, would participate in the exercises observe that formally begin. on Monday and ends on May 10.

Major General Bernard Banac, director of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, said 156 members of his unit would participate as observers in the exercises, which he said would give the police elite an opportunity to learn and gain experience in all domains. (naval, air, land) operations, command control and cyber security, he said.

AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said on Sunday: “This Balikatan exercise stands out for its scale and evolving nature, which adapts to contemporary security challenges.”

“Each Balikatan is increasingly more complex than the last. It has evolved from the tactical to the operational level of war,” she said, adding: “We aim to improve interoperability, strengthen alliances and deepen regional security cooperation.”

‘All domains’

“This Balikatan exercise is an annual event aimed at strengthening defense capabilities and alliances. While we remain vigilant in the face of regional challenges, the exercise is not explicitly linked to the actions of any particular country,” Padilla further said.

The participating forces would conduct complex, cross-domain missions involving maritime security, detection and targeting, air and missile defense, dynamic missile attacks, cyber defense and information operations.

Lt. Gen. William Jurney, commander of the US Marine Corps Pacific and US exercise director for Balikatan, said in a statement: “Each year we work closely with AFP senior leaders to make Balikatan more challenging. This year we increased the scope, scale and complexity across all domains.”

“We are building military readiness across the full range of combined and joint operations. It is our most expansive Balikatan yet,” he said.

Balikatan would consist of three main events: field training exercises (FTX); command-and-control exercises (C2X); and Humanitarian Civil Assistance (HCA) activities.

FTX would include exercises to protect key areas in Luzon and Palawan; fast-moving long-range and precision strike capabilities against simulated threats; tracking simulated air threats and countering them with multiple air and missile defense systems; and integrating multilateral air and land platforms to raise awareness of the maritime security situation.

The FTX would highlight the deployment and use of advanced military assets such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) Rapid Infiltration, the Integrated Air and Missile Defense and various unmanned aerial systems.

C2X would include a cyber defense exercise aimed at strengthening bilateral defense capabilities that protect critical military and civilian information infrastructure, while the HCA, which began in March, includes the construction of school buildings in Ilocos Norte and Cagayan and health centers in La Union and Palawan .

The exercises would be held at different locations under the Northern Luzon Command, Western Command and Southern Luzon Command.