Philippines and United States Launch Largest-Ever Balikatan Military Exercises

AFP

The Philippines and the United States hold a ceremony in Manila to begin their Balikatan joint military exercise on 20 April 2026.

hilippine and U.S. forces will carry out maritime strike drills on a remote Philippine ‌island near Taiwan during annual exercises that started on Monday, which Manila's military chief said would test their readiness under "real‑world conditions".

The exercises, running from 20 April to 8 May, are the largest held to date in terms of participating nations. Australia has again joined the programme, while Canada, France, New Zealand and Japan are participating actively for the first time, underlining Manila’s expanding network of security partnerships.

More than 17,000 troops are taking part, including around 10,000 from the United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines.

Launching the exercises, Philippine armed forces chief Romeo Brawner said the drills were intended to reaffirm the strength of the alliance and the shared responsibility of securing regional stability.

"We train across the breadth of our archipelago ... testing our readiness in real-world conditions across all domains," Brawner said.

The exercises include maritime security operations, coastal defence training, air and missile defence activities, multinational naval coordination and live-fire manoeuvres.

Some drills will take place in Zambales province on the South China Sea, approximately 230 kilometres from the strategically significant Scarborough Shoal, which is controlled by China.

Source: Reuters



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