Philippine-US 'Balikatan' Exercise to Kick Off, Moving Toward Multilateral All-Domain Operations
The annual Philippine-US 'Balikatan' joint military exercise will be held from April 20 to May 8. Featuring 17,000 troops from 7 nations, including Japan's first combat troop deployment, it shifts toward multilateral, all-domain operations.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 18:33
- 🔍 Collected: April 15, 2026 at 19:02 (28 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 19, 2026 at 11:09 (88h 7m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(CNA Reporter Lin Xing-jian, Manila, 15th) This year's Philippine-US "Balikatan" joint military exercise is about to commence. The Philippine military stated that the scale of the exercise, the participating countries, and the training content have all been significantly upgraded. This indicates that amid changes in regional security, the cooperation model is shifting from bilateral to multilateral, and expanding from traditional combat to all-domain integration.
The "Balikatan" exercise is scheduled to be held from April 20 to May 8. Philippine military spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla stated today on the state-run television talk show "Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon" (New Philippines Today) that one of the highlights of this year's exercise is the increased number of participating countries.
Padilla pointed out that 7 countries are expected to participate this year, including the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Canada, France, Australia, and New Zealand, with a total force of 17,000 troops. Compared to past exercises that were primarily bilateral between the Philippines and the US with more concentrated training locations, the scope of this year's exercise is broader and will unfold simultaneously in multiple locations across the Philippines.
She added that regarding the training content, this year's "Balikatan" will expand beyond traditional joint land, sea, and air combat into cyber and other non-traditional domains, moving toward "all-domain operations."
The US spokesperson for "Balikatan," Robert Bunn, stated that the increasing participation of nations demonstrates the commitment of like-minded countries to jointly maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and also highlights the Philippines' critical role in regional security.
Bunn pointed out that interoperability is one of the core objectives of the exercise. It involves not only communication and system integration but also overcoming natural differences such as language and culture so that forces from different countries can effectively fight side by side.
Following the approval of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) by the Philippine and Japanese parliaments last year, Japan will dispatch combat troops to participate in "Balikatan" for the first time this year, becoming another highlight of the exercise.
The Philippine spokesperson for "Balikatan," Dennis Fernandez, recently said at a press conference that the Japan Self-Defense Forces will use Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles to sink a target ship during the live-fire exercise segment. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will visit the site to observe. (Editor: Chen Cheng-gong) 1150415
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(CNA Reporter Lin Xing-jian, Manila, 15th) This year's Philippine-US "Balikatan" joint military exercise is about to commence. The Philippine military stated that the scale of the exercise, the participating countries, and the training content have all been significantly upgraded. This indicates that amid changes in regional security, the cooperation model is shifting from bilateral to multilateral, and expanding from traditional combat to all-domain integration.
The "Balikatan" exercise is scheduled to be held from April 20 to May 8. Philippine military spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla stated today on the state-run television talk show "Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon" (New Philippines Today) that one of the highlights of this year's exercise is the increased number of participating countries.
Padilla pointed out that 7 countries are expected to participate this year, including the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Canada, France, Australia, and New Zealand, with a total force of 17,000 troops. Compared to past exercises that were primarily bilateral between the Philippines and the US with more concentrated training locations, the scope of this year's exercise is broader and will unfold simultaneously in multiple locations across the Philippines.
She added that regarding the training content, this year's "Balikatan" will expand beyond traditional joint land, sea, and air combat into cyber and other non-traditional domains, moving toward "all-domain operations."
The US spokesperson for "Balikatan," Robert Bunn, stated that the increasing participation of nations demonstrates the commitment of like-minded countries to jointly maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and also highlights the Philippines' critical role in regional security.
Bunn pointed out that interoperability is one of the core objectives of the exercise. It involves not only communication and system integration but also overcoming natural differences such as language and culture so that forces from different countries can effectively fight side by side.
Following the approval of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) by the Philippine and Japanese parliaments last year, Japan will dispatch combat troops to participate in "Balikatan" for the first time this year, becoming another highlight of the exercise.
The Philippine spokesperson for "Balikatan," Dennis Fernandez, recently said at a press conference that the Japan Self-Defense Forces will use Type 88 surface-to-ship missiles to sink a target ship during the live-fire exercise segment. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will visit the site to observe. (Editor: Chen Cheng-gong) 1150415
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The text, images, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and utilized without authorization.