A total of 17,680 troops will take part in the annual exercise, which will include the first live-fire drills in the South China Sea and a simulated defense of a small Philippine island. The two countries will also stage an island landing.
US and Philippine soldiers conduct joint exercises. Photo: AFP
"Any armed forces has the right to conduct military exercises," said Colonel Michael Logico, a spokesman for the Philippine military for the exercise, called Balikatan (which means "Shoulder to Shoulder" in Filipino ).
The announcement comes less than six weeks after Manila and Washington agreed to restart joint patrols in the South China Sea and reached a deal to allow US troops access to four other military bases in the Southeast Asian country.
The exercise is scheduled to run from April 11 to April 28 and will involve more than 12,000 US troops, nearly 5,000 Filipinos and 111 Australians, double the number from last year, Logico said. A US official confirmed the figures.
The exercise will also involve military helicopters. Philippine maritime and coastal defense exercises have been held before, but this will be the first time they will be held in Calayan Island.
Mr. Logico said this will also be the first time Philippine and U.S. naval destroyers will fire live ammunition into the South China Sea from waters off Zambales province, north of Manila. Previous live-fire exercises have only been held on land.
The Americans will also use Patriot missiles, considered one of the best air defense systems in the world , and HIMARS precision-guided missiles in the exercise. Mr Logico said the Australian troops taking part would mainly be involved in “special operations”-style exercises, while Japan would send an observer delegation.
Quoc Thien (according to AFP)
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