US and allies test capabilities near Asia’s flash point: NPR

LAOG CITY, Philippines – Silver drone boats scanned the blue waters for targets, rocket artillery shells fired from behind sand dunes, mortars and machine guns pounded the surf, and generator-powered air conditioners and tents cooled stacks of data servers on the beach, as U.S. and allied forces practiced repelling an amphibious assault.

It is part of US-led drills on Luzon, the Philippines’ largest island, known as Balikatan or “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog. It tested the U.S. military’s new weapons, emerging strategies, and changing alliances amid geopolitical tensions and rapidly evolving technologies.

“It’s really about ‘see, understand, attack and defend,'” Gen. Ronald Clark, commander of U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), told NPR in an interview.

To thwart any attack on the Philippines, he said, “We want to see the enemy first.”

Over 17,000 troops from the US, Philippines, Japan, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand participated in the 41st edition of the military exercise, which concluded on Friday after nearly three weeks.

The exercise was bordered on two major flash points in Asia – Taiwan and the South China Sea – often front lines of tension between the US, China and its neighbours.

“US, Japan, Philippines trilateral cooperation is integral to any form of mass deterrence in the first island chain,” which includes Japan and the Philippines, says lisa curtisA senior fellow at the Washington DC-based Center for a New American Security.

The commander of the US Army’s 25th Infantry Division, Major General James B. Bartholomew III scans the area of ​​central Luzon island from a Black Hawk helicopter.

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The US National Defense Strategy states that “deterrence is necessary to prevent anyone, including China, from overpowering us or our allies.”

China condemned the exercise as destabilizing for the region feedbacksent its own naval task force to conduct live-fire exercises east of Luzon, the main island of the Philippines.

Alliances and partners are changing

American and Filipino soldiers pose for a photo during the annual Balikatan exercises.

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Balikatan practice is being reshaped by internal factors among the United States’ allies.

“The Philippine Army is now moving beyond its normal focus on internal security,” Lt. Gen. Aristotle Gonzalez, head of the Northern Luzon Command of the Philippine Armed Forces, told reporters at the exercise.

As Philippine authorities have recently Weak “As the Philippines defends its borders in the fight against insurgent and terrorist groups, it is good to have the U.S. military coming so we can also learn and acquire new capabilities as well as effectively employ these capabilities,” Gonzales said.

In Japan, Prime Minister Sanae Takachi is trying to get rid of post-war restrictions on his military, including updating its defense. strategy and revitalizing your defense Industry.

This is the first time this year that Japan sent combat troops to the Balikatan exercise, replacing observers who had gone last year. They fired During the exercise, an anti-ship missile was used for the first time in the Philippines on a decommissioned Philippine corvette.

The last time Japanese combat troops set foot on Philippine soil was in 1941, when Imperial Army troops landed in the city of Vigan, about 50 miles south, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japan’s postwar constitution prohibits it from waging war. But Colonel Sho Tomino, commanding the Japanese amphibious regiment, told reporters that his unit could participate because the Japan-Philippines agreement Permission for joint military training in each other’s countries came into effect last year.

“Despite the language barrier, through this series of exercises, by working together and shoulder to shoulder, I strongly believe that we can operate together,” he said.

Increasing role of US military

Between the Philippine and Japanese soldiers were US Army soldiers 25th Infantry Division.

The Pacific Ocean has long been considered a region of sea power and air power dominance. But China’s military buildup, especially its land-based missiles, has kept American naval and air power in check.

The US Army and Marine Corps have reflected that approach by deploying anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles along the First Island Chain to control choke points between the islands.

However, despite debate about this, the role of the military has continued to grow Limit of land power in the Pacific.

The commander of the 25th Infantry Division argues, “What we are learning by watching the fighting in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world is that the advantage of land forces in controlling the sea cannot be denied.” Major General James B. Bartholomew III.

Some experts warn that deploying more US missiles around China could harm the military Growth.

But “It’s not about escalation. It’s really about deterrence,” argues Clark, of US Army Pacific. “I mean, what you’re seeing on this beach is rescue in depth. This is not an offensive operation.”

offensive weapons

A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher is placed on the La Paz sand dunes beach in Laoag City ahead of counterlanding exercises during the annual Balikatan exercise.

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In addition to deploying anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles, the US has also deployed the Typhon missile system, capable of hitting targets from the Philippines to mainland China.

China caution Last year it said it would “not sit idly by” with the threat of Typhoon, and it accused the Philippines of reneging on a promise to withdraw the missiles after the 2024 Balikatan exercises, a promise Manila made. rebuttal Make.

local media informed That US troops used the Typhon system for the first time in the Philippines to fire the Tomahawk cruise missile during the Balikatan exercise. The missile was fired from a civilian airport, carrying a dummy warhead and fell on a military reservation.

Anna Malindog-Uy, Secretary-General of the Philippines, said, “Yes, Typhoon could increase deterrence, but it also increases the Philippines’ risk of great-power conflict.” Association for Philippines-China UnderstandingA civic group.

“This creates the risk of entanglement, escalation and loss of strategic autonomy,” he said. Therefore, he said, the Philippine government should explain to its citizens how it plans to use the weapons and how it will protect civilians if they become targets.