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Several days into an annual joint military training exercise between the US and Philippine militaries called Balikatan, marines from both nations have practiced an amphibious invasion of an island just 100 miles off of the southern coast of Taiwan. Last year’s exercises involved similar offensive operations, but were directed westward at the South China Sea.
SCMP reports that operations have involved the extremely remote island of Itbayat, which is closer to Taiwan than China is to Taiwan. 15,000 US and Philippine marines landed in the small town of the same name to “retake the island from a foreign invader”.
To end the Kalibatan in a few days, the two militaries will collaborate over the sinking of an “enemy ship” which happens to be the only Chinese-made ship in the Philippine Navy.
Experts see this as a deliberate attempt to practice a counter-invasion or defense of Taiwan in the case of a war with China, which would be one of the most disruptive non-nuclear conflicts on Earth.
A trio of rocket artillery pieces was also tested including the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) which has a range of 80 kilometers, the Typhon missile launcher which can fire 370 km, and the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher which can fire not only the NATO-made Standard Missile 6, but Tomahawk cruise missile which can be tipped with nuclear warheads 2,500 kilometers away.
While the HIMARS was fired during the exercises into the sea, and the Typhon was involved only when teams practiced airlifting it around, it’s not clear if the MRC was actually tested. If deployed on the Batanes or Itbayat, the Typhon could strike targets across a large part of Taiwan. A readout from the US Navy said the drills will include “rapidly moving long range, precision strike capabilities and using them in targeting simulated threats”.
“Under camouflage and because they are smaller and more mobile, it’s also easier to conceal [missile launchers like the Typhon]” from even spy satellites,” Ricardo Jose, a professor of history at the University of the Philippines specializing in World War II, told SCMP.
150 Australian and 100 French soldiers also took part in the take-and-hold mission, and 14 nations participated as observers, including Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, and New Zealand, as well as many of China’s land and maritime neighbors, namely India, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, and Japan, and three nations that China has marine border disputes with: Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
For the first time, this year’s Balikatan exercises are taking place beyond the 12-mile boundary of the Philippines’ territorial waters, specifically when an SSM-700K C-Star (Haeseong) anti-ship cruise missile will fire at the Philippines’ Chinese ship which was towed on Tuesday to its target location beyond this 12 nautical-mile boundary.
Despite all this, Both US and Philippine officials and commanders have been quick to state the exercises are not a provocation, or intended to prepare for war against any particular nation.
“These exercises are not designed for combat operations against other nations. Responding to or utilizing it to impede China’s coercive actions against Philippine vessels is outside the scope of these joint military drills,” said Senator Jinggoy Estrada from the Committee on National Defense.
The overall objective is said to be an increase in interoperability and coordination between the US and the Philippines, which share a mutual defense treaty, and the first stage of implementing the Philippines’ new defense strategy, called the Comprehensive Archipelagic Coastal Defense Concept. The concept is to extend Philippine control over the waters of its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, beyond its own territorial waters, which include places like the Scarborough and Second Thomas shoals, which are essentially just marine features and can’t support habitation of any consequence. WaL
PICTURED ABOVE: Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Launcher arrives on Luzon in advance of the Balikatan joint training exercises. PC: US Army, public domain.
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