PH, US kick off annual Balikatan war games

United States and Philippine military officials launch the Balikatan 2025 war games on Monday in various areas of Luzon. — Photo by Faith Argosino

MANILA, Philippines — This year’s joint war games between Manila and Washington, or the “Balikatan” (BK 40-25) exercises, officially began on Monday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. officially opened the 40th iteration of the annual war games between the United States (US) military and its Philippine counterpart at Camp Aguinaldo. It will run until May 9 in various areas in Luzon.

In a statement also released on Monday, the AFP announced that 6,000 of its personnel will join the BK 40-25 activities. These personnel were mainly from the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) and the Western Command (Wescom).

On the other hand, AFP said that 12,000 personnel from its US counterpart would participate in the war games.

Aside from the two countries, several partner nations also deployed smaller contingents — Australia with about 200 personnel, Japan with 56, the United Kingdom with 11, and both France and Canada with two personnel each.

READ: Hegseth: US deploying more advanced assets to PH for Balikatan

Below are the list of Philippine and US assets that will be used during different exercises across the country:

Philippine Air Force

• A-29B
• C208
• C90
• FA-50
• H900
• PZL-W3A
• SOKOL
• S-76A
• S-170i
• T-129
• ATAK
• T-126
• PCG RW

Philippine Army

• 105MM HOW X2
• ASCOD X4
• ATMOS X4
• ATMOS X2
• WAVX2
• LAV 300
• SPYDER Launcher

Philippine Navy

• FAIC
• FF150
• FF151
• LD602
• LCH
• MPAC
• PG (902, 905, 908)
• PS (16,35)
• PCG OPV 8301
• UAS SCANEAGLE
• AW109
• AW159
• C-90

US Marine Corps

• Navy-Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction Sytem (NMESIS)
• Marine Air Defense Intergrated  System (MADIS)
• TPS-80 G/ATOR Radar
• F/A-18 Hornet
• MV-22 Osprey
• KC-130J Super Hercules

US Navy

• USS Savannah (LCS 28)
• Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Comstock (LSD 45)

US Army

• UH-60 Black Hawk
• CH-47 Chinook
• HH-60 Pave Hawk
• AH-60
• Avenger
• Stringer
• Spyder Radar
• High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) units

US Air Force

• F-16CJ
• C-130J

Among the events that would be held during the BK 40-25 are the Integrated Air and Missile Defense, two Counter Landing Live Fire Exercise, the Maritime Strike, Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations, Multilateral Maritime Event, and the Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Response Tabletop exercise, among others.

Last year, a total of 16,000 AFP personnel participated in the Balikatan exercises. At the same time, 11,000 US military personnel consist of 3,700 marines, 1,200 soldiers, 4,000 Navy personnel, 400 airmen and Air National Guardsmen, and 750 special operations forces, among others.

In the same year, 14 countries observed the exercises — namely Britain, Brunei, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.