US and Ally Break New Ground in South China Sea

The U.S. and the Philippines capped their largest bilateral military exercise Friday after achieving multiple firsts amid heightened South China Sea tensions.

The 2024 Balikatan exercise (Tagalog for "shoulder to shoulder") was the largest to date, with some 17,000 participating military service members, including from Australia and, for the first time, France.

The U.S. Marine Corps' new amphibious assault combat vehicles (ACVs) made their regional debut during the exercise. In another first, a Philippine navy frigate fired anti-ship cruise missiles against a decommissioned warship.

The doomed former oiler sank after about two hours of fire from U.S., Philippine and Australian air-, land- and sea-based assets.

Balikatan came on the heels of the U.S.'s first deployment of a model of a midrange missile launcher that can be loaded with ordnance and puts coastal China in range.

"These 'firsts' are milestones in the Philippines' own quest for the envisioned minimum credible defense posture," Jeffrey Ordaniel, an associate professor at Tokyo International University and a senior researcher at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum think tank, told Newsweek.

"It has been 12 years since Armed Forces of the Philippines started its ambitious capability-based modernization. So recent exercises are really geared towards testing new capabilities and ensuring the AFP can operate alongside allies during contingencies," he added.

Ordaniel said the inclusion of ACVs was notable because any conflict involving the Philippines would likely feature amphibious operations such as coastal defense and retaking islands.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to Newsweek's emailed request for comment.

Manila and Washington have a decades-old Mutual Defense Treaty, which President Joe Biden has said extends to the entire South China Sea. The Philippines is also part of the so-called first island chain, a series of archipelagoes stretching southward from Japan. The U.S. views the chain as being key to any potential conflict with China in the region—for instance, an invasion of Taiwan.

Asked about the series of drills, China's Manila embassy warned last month that it would "never allow anyone to sow chaos in the South China Sea," and Chinese maritime forces were reported to be shadowing from a distance a joint maritime exercise near disputed South China Sea features.

China asserts it has claims over most of the South China Sea, citing historical rights. But China's claims overlap with those of the Philippines and several other coastal neighbors.

The South China Sea has great strategic importance for the region. It is rich in energy reserves and is a passageway for an estimated one-fifth of global trade.