PH, US, France, Australia set maritime drills in WPS

MARITIME EXERCISE. The BRP Gregorio Del Pilar is among the five naval ships that will take part in a maritime cooperative activity within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea on Sunday (April 7, 2024). The quadrilateral maritime exercise among Japan, Australia, United States and the Philippines demonstrates their collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Photo courtesy of Philippine Navy

MANILA, Philippines: The Philippines will be joined by the United States, Australia and France at the West Philippine Sea where they will hold Multilateral Maritime Exercises (MME) coinciding with this year’s Balikatan Exercises, said Col. Michael Logico, Balikatan’s executive agent at the Bagong Pilipinas forum on Wednesday.

Balikatan 2024 will hold its opening ceremonies at the Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in Quezon City on April 22, 2024 as part of efforts 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.

Although France will join the group sail, it will only navigate on the edge of the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the WPS.

“For operational security reasons I will not reveal the exact route of the group sail. Just for us to know that we will be originating from Palawan and we will be doing it within the bounds of our EEZ,” Logico said.

The Japan Defense Force was supposed to join the maritime event but failed to respond to the AFP’s invitation on time.

At least 16,000 troops (11,000 on the US side and 5,000 from the Philippines) are taking part in the exercises with 14 countries joining as observers.

Logico said the objective of the Balikatan exercises was to demonstrate the strength of the alliance and willingness to defend territory.

“The reason why we do exercises is to demonstrate our combat readiness and it is also a demonstration of our comprehensive archipelagic defense concept, you do exercises for that primary reason to maintain a high level of readiness,” he said.

He said he also would not “discount the possibility that this also sends a message to our adversaries.”

Lieutenant General William M. Jurney, commander of the US Marine Corps Forces, Pacific and US exercise director for Balikatan 2024, expressed confidence in the strengthened capabilities achieved through joint endeavors.

“Our combined capabilities with the Armed Forces of the Philippines are stronger than ever. Every day that we work and train together, the bonds between our people grow stronger, our capabilities grow stronger, our alliance grows stronger.”

On the US side, Logico said the Americans were bringing in at least two ships, F-22 Raptor fighter jets, Apache attack helicopters, Black Hawk helicopters, and medium-range capability weapon system, among others.

Logico said the Philippines will insert FA-50 fighter jets, Super Tucano light attack aircraft, Black Hawk combat utility helicopters and the Spyder ground-based air defense system of the Philippine Air Force.

Also featured are the frigate BRP Antonio Luna, patrol vessel BRP Ramon Alcaraz, landing dock BRP Davao Del Sur of the Philippine Navy, said Logico.