The US and the Philippines showcased their defense ties near disputed waters in the South China Sea, using rockets and combat aircraft to simulate sinking an enemy ship as part of war games held amid growing tensions with China.
(Bloomberg) — The US and the Philippines showcased their defense ties near disputed waters in the South China Sea, using rockets and combat aircraft to simulate sinking an enemy ship as part of war games held amid growing tensions with China.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday watched the live exercise using binoculars as American and Filipino forces attempted to sink a decommissioned vessel 12 nautical miles off Zambales province, facing the vast waters that’s been a flashpoint between the Southeast Asian nation and China.
High-mobility artillery rocket systems were used for the drills, similar to those deployed in the Russian war in Ukraine. Attack helicopters and other combat aircraft were also utilized in the military tests, which were streamed live for two hours.
Marcos is “hoping the country could benefit from enhanced cooperation with the United States,” according to a statement on the drills released by his communications office.
The live-fire exercise intends to boost the interoperability of US and Philippine defense systems, and highlights Marcos’s strategy to shift the armed forces’ focus to external security, said Chester Cabalza, who heads a Manila-based security think tank. “The message it sends to China brings the notion that the archipelagic country is naval-ready for any eventuality,” he said.
The US has been advancing its longstanding defense alliance with the Philippines, amid increasing rivalry and geopolitical disputes with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea. Marcos is set to meet US President Joe Biden in Washington next week to discuss defense ties, months after the American military gained expanded access in the Philippines.
China has described the strengthened US’ defense ties with the Southeast Asian nation as an attempt to “encircle and contain” Beijing. China also recently announced plans to hold military drills in waters off its coast and in the South China Sea, shortly after conducting exercises around Taiwan.
(Adds details from drills, presidential communications’ office statement in 4th paragraph.)
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