An Indo-Pacific show of force? Philippines, US and allies step up military readiness amid regional tensions
- Kamandag 7 marks heightened US interest in troop deployment in the region according to perceived challenges
- The exercise sees the deployment of the Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia, which allows the US to be first responder to any crisis in the Indo-Pacific region
An 11-day joint military exercise involving nearly 3,000 members of elite forces from the Philippines, United States, Japan, South Korea and Britain is under way and focused on “interoperability” to counter any crisis in the Indo-Pacific region, as geopolitical tensions mount in the south and east China seas.
“Kamandag 7” is part of a series of training exercises across Southeast Asia comprising 2,749 personnel, including 902 US marines. Some of the Americans hail from a newly created fighting unit, formed by the US last year to be the first responder in the Indo-Pacific.
Analysts say the show of force, extended to other countries from an initial US-Philippine partnership, marks heightened US interest in how it would deploy troops in the region according to perceived challenges.
Kamandag 7, hosted by the Philippines, is not aimed at China or any other country, Marine Navy Captain Jarald Rea, the Philippine Marine Corps public affairs office director, told This Week in Asia on Tuesday.
“It is not aimed at any existing conflict but is purely an exercise that is scheduled. The emphasis is interoperability because they [the participating countries] are part of the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
At the exercise’s launch on November 9, Philippine Marine Corps commandant Major General Arturo Roxas said: “Together, we send a powerful message to the world, especially to those who may seek to disrupt the peace: that our partnership is unbreakable, our resolve unyielding, and our commitment to defending our nations is always unwavering.”
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed a similar sentiment on Wednesday at the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Jakarta, when he told Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro that the US “stands shoulder to shoulder … in defending its sovereign rights and jurisdiction in its exclusive economic zone”.
