US Special Forces are operating across the Philippines as part of Exercise Balikatan 2025, focusing on external defense operations alongside Philippine counterparts. The exercises involve forces from the US Navy, US Army, and US Air Force, working in multiple locations including the South China Sea.
Training activities included US Naval Special Warfare craft operating in Subic Bay for a medical evacuation exercise with helicopters from the Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. US Air Force MC-130Js deployed the Naval special operations craft to the Philippines. Army helicopters also practiced low-level flights and aerial refueling over water.
A US Air Force CV-22 Osprey landed on the USS Comstock (LSD-45) in the South China Sea during maritime exercises off Western Luzon in mid-April.
US and Philippine forces have shifted their cooperation focus beyond counterinsurgency to external defense efforts. US Naval Special Warfare SEALs and combatant-craft crewmen have trained with the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard in the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait.
Training events have included a simulated a gas and oil platform seizure near disputed features in the West Philippine Sea. Last October, US special forces held a small vessel defensive tactics training activity for the Philippine Coast Guard in Palawan. Navy Combatant Craft have also trained alongside Manila’s white hulls in the Luzon Strait.
Exercises this year included a drone drill conducted on April 28 at a naval station in Zambales province. The drill used counter-drone systems, including the IFPC-HPM and FS-LIDS, against simulated drone swarms. This training addresses a rising threat landscape in Asia.
According to Richard Heydarian, a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines, this year's Balikatan exercises are especially consequential, involving around 12,000 US troops in a full-scale battle scenario to improve military interoperability and shared threat awareness.
The exercises are occurring amid regional tensions involving China. The US employs its special operations capability to assist partners such as the Philippines and Taiwan in preparing for potential contingencies.
Training exercises near the Batanes island chain focus on complex landing scenarios, according to a joint statement with Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro. Philippine military chief Gen. Romero Brawner told troops stationed in the area to prepare for potential conflict, stating the country could become involved.
US Army Captain Bray McCollum, commander of the 1-51 air defense artillery’s IFPC battery, discussed the recent counter-drone test. "During this test, we were able to demonstrate that we can successfully defeat drone swarms in a tropical environment using layered effects," McCollum said in a statement.
