LAOAG CITY, Philippines — On the sands of northern Luzon, an array of modern and old‑school military tools met the sea: unmanned boat drones combed the surf for targets, rocket artillery and mortars boomed from behind dunes, machine guns swept the shoreline, and air‑conditioned tents cooled banks of data servers as U.S. and allied forces rehearsed repelling an amphibious assault.
Those scenes were part of the 41st Balikatan exercises — “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog — a nearly three‑week U.S.‑led drill across Luzon that ended Friday. More than 17,000 service members from the United States, the Philippines, Japan, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand took part, testing new weapons, tactics and interoperability as strategic competition in the region intensifies.
“It’s really about ‘see, sense, strike and protect,’” Gen. Ronald Clark, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, told reporters. “We want to see the enemy first,” he added, stressing the exercises’ defensive logic in deterring attacks on the Philippines.
The training unfolded close to two of Asia’s most sensitive flash points — Taiwan and the South China Sea — areas that have become focal points of friction among the United States, China and regional partners. Washington’s National Defense Strategy frames deterrence as vital to preventing any country, including China, from dominating the United States or its allies.
China denounced Balikatan as destabilizing and dispatched a naval task force to conduct live‑fire drills east of Luzon in response. Beijing has also objected to certain U.S. weapon deployments, warning in recent months that systems capable of striking the Chinese mainland alter the strategic balance.
Shifting priorities among U.S. partners were evident on the ground. Philippine commanders said their armed forces are moving from a long focus on internal security toward strengthening maritime and border defenses after gains against insurgent and terrorist groups. “It’s good to have the U.S. Army coming in, so that we can also learn and, as we acquire new capabilities, to employ these capabilities effectively,” said Lt. Gen. Aristotle Gonzalez, head of the Philippine Armed Forces’ Northern Luzon Command.
Japan’s role in the exercises highlighted another evolution. For the first time, Japan sent combat troops to Balikatan rather than observers, and a Japanese amphibious unit fired an anti‑ship missile at a retired Philippine vessel during the drills. The deployment marked the first time Japanese combat forces had trained on Philippine soil since World War II. Tokyo’s broader efforts to loosen postwar restrictions and modernize its defense posture under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi were reflected in the new level of participation.
Japanese officers emphasized the practical value of working side by side with regional partners, saying repeated, hands‑on cooperation builds the ability to operate together despite language and procedural differences.
The U.S. Army’s footprint in the Pacific has been growing as American planners seek to offset advances in Chinese naval and missile capabilities. Long seen as a maritime and air‑power theater, the Indo‑Pacific is increasingly viewed as a domain where land forces — deployed with anti‑ship and anti‑air systems along the first island chain — can shape access and control choke points between islands.
Maj. Gen. James B. Bartholomees III, commander of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division, pointed to lessons from recent conflicts that underscore the relevance of ground forces for maritime contests. At Balikatan the Army staged HIMARS rocket launchers on beaches and worked integrated fires and sensors with allied units.
The exercises also featured systems that critics say blur the line between deterrence and offensive posturing. U.S. deployments during the drills included mobile missile systems capable of long‑range strikes; local reports said a Tomahawk cruise missile was fired from Philippine territory during the exercises using a Typhon launcher, though it carried a dummy warhead and landed on a range. Manila denies having promised to remove Typhon systems after last year’s drills, a point Beijing has raised.
Some analysts warn that placing longer‑range strike systems within reach of regional adversaries could increase the Philippines’ exposure to great‑power competition. “Yes, Typhon may enhance deterrence, but it also raises the Philippines’ exposure to great‑power conflict,” said Anna Malindog‑Uy, secretary‑general of the Association for Philippines‑China Understanding. She urged Manila to explain how such weapons would be used and how civilians would be protected if the country became a target.
U.S. officials reject the idea that the exercises are meant to provoke escalation. Clark described the operations observed on the beach as a “defense in depth,” designed to deny an adversary easy objectives rather than to enable offensive campaigns.
Balikatan’s mix of traditional live‑fire drills, new sensor and networked systems, multinational coordination and political symbolism captures the broader transformation underway in regional defense postures. For host and partners alike, the exercises were a rehearsal not only of tactics but of the political choices that come with deeper military cooperation in a contested neighborhood.