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APORAWAN, PHILIPPINES – Over 500 service members from the United States, Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand successfully coordinated fires from the land and air to defeat a simulated adversary attack as part of Exercise Balikatan 2026, April 27.
During the counter-landing live-fire training, forces demonstrated their ability to sense the actions of a dynamic notional enemy, make collective real-time decisions, and coordinate an array of fire from missile systems, fighter aircraft, mortars, and machine guns. They combined advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities with lethal firepower through a combined, multi-domain command and control node to think, decide, and act as one team.
“We can talk about all the capabilities we have, but the integration of those capabilities is the cornerstone of how this is done right,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. G. J. Flynn III, commanding officer of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin. “The friendships that we made being in the dirt in defensive positions alongside each other, that is what really matters about this event.” This training served as the first time that these four nations have conducted a counter-landing live-fire event during Exercise Balikatan. Participants included U.S. Marines from the Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, U.S. Soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division/Multi-Domain Command-Pacific, Philippine marines from the 3rd Marine Brigade and elements of the Philippine Air Force and Philippine Army. They were joined by soldiers from the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, and for the first time, soldiers from the 2nd/1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
“Beach defense is not the responsibility of a single unit or domain, it requires seamless integration across services and with our allies,” said Philippine Marine Corps Col. Dennis Hernandez, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson for Balikatan 2026. “Exercises like this ensure that we are prepared to protect our coastal communities and territorial integrity with precision, speed, and overwhelming coordination.”
The training began with ISR assets detecting a mock enemy amphibious vessel, providing intelligence for decision-making to the C2 node. As the vessel approached the coast, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems engaged targets from their position at the beachhead.
As enemy assault amphibious vehicles and fast boats raced toward the beach in the training scenario, targets were met with fire from mortars, Stingers, and anti-armor systems like the Javelin and Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided missiles. The event culminated with a final defensive line of direct-fire weapons from all participating nations engaging the last wave of targets, neutralizing the threat, and successfully defending the beachhead.
"We participated in Exercise Balikatan to strengthen interoperability with partner nations and our ally, Australia,” said New Zealand Army Capt. Will Hutchinson, acting second-in-command of Combat Team Jackal. “The soldiers got a lot from working with a combined force and it's something we're looking to continue in the future."
The counter-landing live-fire event, and other military training conducted during Balikatan 2026, builds tactical proficiency, compatible capabilities, and military-to-military coordination, exemplifying the ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ spirit of the Balikatan exercise.
"It's fitting that Balikatan in Tagalog means ‘shoulder-to-shoulder.’ The counter-landing live fire showcases sophisticated capabilities, and down at a low level, the soldier-to-solider partnership with the Philippines Armed Forces,” said Australian Army Lt. Col. Benjamin Woolmer, commanding officer of the 5th/7th Battalion, RAR. “Being able to share lessons with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and work shoulder-to-shoulder is a great end in itself.”
News media representatives interested in additional information or coverage opportunities may contact the exercise Public Affairs Combined Joint Information Bureau media officer at mailto:balikatan_media@usmc.mil.
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About Balikatan Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force, and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. For complete coverage of Balikatan 2026 activities, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/Balikatan.
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2026 09:06 |
| Story ID: | 563635 |
| Location: | PALAWAN/OZAMIS, PH |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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