US, Filipino troops ‘prepare for the worst’ with Balikatan invasion resistance drills

US troops let loose howitzer shells as Filipino forces followed up with rockets, before they joined forces with machine-gun fire and artillery rounds

The two fended off an imaginary ‘invasion’ of the Philippines days after their governments objected to China’s ‘dangerous’ actions in regional waters

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US and Filipino soldiers conduct live-fire exercises on Luzon island as part of this year’s Balikatan joint military drills. Photo: US Army/Handout

Published: 2:32pm, 6 May 2024Updated: 3:27pm, 6 May 2024

US and Filipino troops fired missiles and artillery at an imaginary “invasion” force during war games on the Philippines’ northern coast on Monday, days after their governments objected to China’s “dangerous” actions in regional waters.

Thousands of troops are conducting land, sea and air manoeuvres against a backdrop of increased confrontations between Chinese and Filipino vessels around shoals in the South China Sea claimed by Manila, as well as stepped-up Chinese air and naval activity nearby.

US troops massed at a strip of sand dunes on Luzon island’s northwest coast – around 400km (249 miles) south of Taiwan – let loose more than 50 live 155mm howitzer rounds at floating targets about 5km off the coast.

Filipino troops followed up by firing rockets aimed at wearing down the attackers, before the two forces finished the job with machine guns, Javelin missiles and more artillery rounds.

Lieutenant General Michael Cederholm, commander of the US First Marine Expeditionary Force, said the exercise was “to prepare for the worst” by “securing key maritime terrain”. “It’s designed to repel an invasion,” Cederholm told reporters at the exercise site.

US soldiers fire an M142 High Mobility Artillerty Rocket System (Himars) on May 2 during the Balikatan 24 joint military exercises in the Philippines. Photo: US Marine Corps/Handout

“Our northwestern side is more exposed,” Major General Marvin Licudine, exercise director for the Filipinos, ahead of the live firing at the La Paz sand dunes near Laoag city.