President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. witnessed the Combined Joint Littoral Live Fire Exercise of the Philippines-United States of America (USA) armed forces in San Antonio, Zambales, on April 26.

The President was joined by US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, Defense Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr., and National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Año, among others.

The activity highlighted this year’s Balikatan Exercise that kicked off last April 11 with over 17,600 participating Filipino and American military personnel.  — the 38th iteration of Balikatan and said to be the largest to date.

According to Malacañang, the event aimed to enhance their joint and combined capabilities in maritime security, amphibious operations, live-fire exercise, urban operations, aviation operations, and counterterrorism.

During the event, President Marcos observed the firing of a rocket launcher called the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) that can be used to hit distant targets.

The Combined Joint Littoral Live Fire Exercise also featured a sinking exercise with the Philippine Navy's (PN) BRP Pangasinan (PS-31), a World War II-era corvette decommissioned in 2021.

During the drill, the vessel was treated as an adversarial vessel and targeted to be sunk, as positioned 12 nautical miles off the coastal waters of San Antonio.

"Balikatan," which means "shoulder-to-shoulder," is an annual bilateral exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US military to strengthen their bilateral interoperability, capabilities, trust, and cooperation that are built over decades of shared experiences.

It highlights four major events, including Command Post Exercise, Cyber Defense Exercise, Field Training Exercises, and Humanitarian Civic Exercise.

The exercise includes three weeks of training focused on amphibious operations, command and control, humanitarian assistance, urban operations, and counterterrorism skills throughout northern and western Luzon.

The Balikatan Exercise will conclude on April 28, 2023.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by ARGYLL CYRUS GEDUCOS

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