U.S. forces are back in the Philippines for another round of joint exercises with their Filipino counterparts as Washington and Manilla expand cooperation. Marine Aviation Support Activity 2023 and Cope Thunder 2023-2 kicked off last week. Both sets of drills are now underway across the Philippines, keeping up an almost continuous series of U.S.-Philippine military […]
The United States considers its alliance with the Philippines in the same category as the partnerships with Japan, Australia and South Korea, the Pentagon’s senior official overseeing the Indo-Pacific said Thursday. Ely Ratner said China’s efforts to drive a wedge between Washington and Manila are “not working.” “We are working with the Philippines on asymmetric […]
After three years of modeling and experimentation to overhaul the Marine Corps for an island-hopping campaign in the Indo-Pacific, service officials say they are done divesting of older platforms and capabilities and need more money to continue modernizing the force. The annual update to Force Design 2030, released Monday, says the Marines will ask for […]
U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division fire Mk 153 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapons during Balikatan 23 in Santa Juliana, Philippines, April 12, 2023. Balikatan 2023 is the 38th iteration of the annual bilateral exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military. 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. Coastal defense training figures prominently in the Balikatan 23 training schedule. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jennifer Andrade)