BATAN ISLAND, Philippines — The U.S. military has deployed an anti-ship missile launcher for the first time on Batan Island in the Philippines, as Marines unloaded the high-precision weapon on the northern tip of the archipelago, just a sea border away from Taiwan.<\/p>\n
U.S. and Philippine forces separately unleashed a barrage of missile and artillery fire that shot down several drones acting as hostile aircraft in live-fire drills on Sunday in Zambales province facing the disputed South China Sea.<\/p>\n
The mock battle scenarios over the weekend in the annual Balikatan<\/a> exercises between the U.S. and its oldest treaty ally in Asia, the Philippines, not only simulated real-life war. They were also staged near major geopolitical hotspots, which have become delicate frontlines in the regional rivalry between China and the U.S. under former President Joe Biden and now Donald Trump.<\/p>\n About 9,000 American and 5,000 Filipino military personnel took part in the combat maneuvers. At least 260 Australian personnel also joined, with smaller observer delegations from Japan and other countries.<\/p>\n China has fiercely opposed the combat drills as provocative. Its aircraft carrier group sailed by a few days earlier near Batanes, where the U.S. military had deployed the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System on Saturday on Batan near the Bashi Channel<\/a> just south of Taiwan, a critical trade and military route that the U.S. and Chinese militaries have tried to gain strategic control of.<\/p>\n “The introduction of NMESIS into the first island chain for sea denial, sea control is another step in our force design journey,\u201d U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. Michael Cederholm told a small group of journalists, including from The Associated Press, who were invited to witness the transport of the missile system aboard a C-130 Air Force aircraft to Batanes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not here practicing a war plan,\u201d said Cederholm. \u201cWe\u2019re practicing for the defense of the Philippines.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. and the Philippines have denied the annual combat maneuvers \u2014 which both said would focus on a \u201cfull-scale battle scenario\u201d this year \u2014 were aimed at China or any adversary. The lines between what\u2019s mock and real, however, have been at times murky.<\/p>\n Asked if U.S. forces would pull out the anti-ship missile system from Batanes after the combat drills, Cederholm did not reply clearly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t broadcast when we\u2019re going in, when we\u2019re coming out and how long things are going to stay,\u201d Cederholm said. \u201cAll I\u2019ll say is we\u2019re here at the invitation and with the support of the Philippine government.\u201d<\/p>\n “But I\u2019m glad it\u2019s here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n