San Antonio, Zambales province, Philippines: U.S. and Philippine troops successfully shot down drones using Stinger missiles during live-fire drills on Sunday, as part of their annual joint military exercises. This year’s drills take place amid rising tensions with Beijing over the South China Sea.
Over 14,000 Filipino and U.S. soldiers are participating in the Balikatan exercises, which run until May 9. These exercises, named “shoulder-to-shoulder” in Filipino, are focused on a “full battle test” between the two defense treaty allies to address regional security concerns. China has voiced its criticism of the drills, calling them provocative.
Sunday’s exercises took place in Zambales, a province in western Philippines that borders the South China Sea—an area of ongoing tension between China and several Southeast Asian nations.
Relations between Beijing and Manila have deteriorated in recent years, marked by frequent confrontations in the contested waters, raising fears of a potential military conflict. Last week, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that the country’s coastguard had conducted maritime operations at Sandy Cay, which China refers to as the Tiexian Reef, asserting its sovereignty over the area. In response, the Philippine military conducted a maritime operation on Sunday, documenting the “illegal presence” of Chinese coastguard and “maritime militia” vessels in the region.
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Despite the ongoing tensions, the Philippine military emphasized that this year’s drills were designed as a rehearsal for national defense and were not aimed at any specific country.
The live-fire training in Zambales featured an integrated air and missile defense exercise using the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS). This marked the system’s second live-fire test and its first deployment to the Philippines.
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“This type of training is absolutely invaluable to us,” said 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment Officer John Lehane after the exercise.
In addition, this year’s Balikatan exercises saw the debut of the NMESIS, a U.S. anti-ship missile system, which will be used for maritime key terrain security operations in Northern Luzon and the Batanes Islands, areas close to Taiwan.
