The Philippines’ Balikatan, or “shoulder-to-shoulder”, military drills with the United States this year will be the “Super Bowl” of exercises that will fully test Manila’s defence plan, Army Brigadier General Michael Logico has vowed.
Echoing the sentiments on Tuesday, American counterpart Marine Colonel Doug Krugman said the drills would include “quite an interesting mix of equipment” – including the China-opposed Typhon missile system – to be deployed by the US.
Another weapon freshly brought in by the US for the missions, which will start on April 21 and run until May 9, is the NMESIS anti-ship missile system, with Krugman hinting the arsenal could remain in the Philippines after the Balikatan.
The Typhon, or the Strategic Mid-Range Fires System, which can launch Tomahawks capable of reaching China and Russia, will continue to be deployed in an unknown location in the Philippines.
As to whether a second such system would be installed, both officers would only give vague answers.
Asked by This Week in Asia whether the NMESIS could also stay on after the drills much like the MRC a year ago, Krugman said: “If there’s another exercise going in the Philippines shortly after Balikatan, and that equipment is appropriate and requested for by the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines], we would certainly want to participate in that exercise as well, but it is here for exercise purposes.”
