CAMP AGUINALDO, Quezon City — The Armed Forces of the Philippines, together with the Australian Defence Force and the United States Indo-Pacific Command, concluded a two-day multilateral maritime exercise in the West Philippine Sea that underscored the three nations’ expanding security alignment and their shared commitment to maintaining freedom of navigation in contested waters.
The activity, held Feb. 15 and 16 and described by Philippine military officials as the 14th Philippine-Australia-United States Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA), brought together an array of naval, air and coast guard assets in what defense planners framed as a demonstration of sustained interoperability among treaty allies and regional partners.
Philippine forces fielded a composite maritime-air contingent anchored by the Navy frigate BRP Diego Silang, supported by an AW109 helicopter detachment. The Philippine Air Force contributed FA-50 light fighter aircraft, A-29 Super Tucano attack planes, a C-208B utility aircraft and a Sokol search-and-rescue helicopter. The Philippine Coast Guard deployed the patrol vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua, reflecting the increasing role of civilian maritime agencies in regional security cooperation.
Australia dispatched the guided-missile frigate HMAS Towoomba with an embarked MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, while the United States Indo-Pacific Command deployed the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Dewey and a separate P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Military officials said the combined presence allowed participants to rehearse complex coordination tasks across surface, air and surveillance domains.
Exercise planners emphasized that the drills were designed to build on earlier engagements rather than introduce entirely new operational scenarios. Core serials included communications exercises aimed at refining secure coordination procedures, maritime domain awareness events to improve shared situational pictures and division tactics maneuvers to enhance fleet-level movement and positioning.
Additional activities included a photo exercise — commonly used by navies to signal partnership and transparency — as well as replenishment-at-sea procedures intended to strengthen logistical integration during extended maritime operations. The exercise concluded with a “hotwash,” or structured after-action review, during which participating forces evaluated performance and captured lessons for future iterations.
Philippine military officials described the 14th MMCA as the first multilateral maritime cooperative activity of 2026, a milestone they said reaffirmed continuity in joint patrols and exercises in the West Philippine Sea. In recent years, Manila has sought to broaden defense partnerships beyond its longstanding alliance with Washington, deepening security ties with Canberra and other regional actors amid persistent tensions in the South China Sea.
While the exercise announcement did not reference specific geopolitical incidents, the West Philippine Sea — the Philippines’ designated name for portions of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone — has remained a focal point of maritime friction, including confrontations involving coast guard and maritime militia vessels near disputed shoals and reefs.
Defense analysts note that trilateral maritime drills serve both operational and signaling purposes: improving tactical readiness while demonstrating collective resolve to uphold international maritime law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which guarantees freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters.
Philippine officials have increasingly highlighted such exercises as evidence of a rules-based regional order anchored in alliances and partnerships. The AFP has framed the MMCA series as a practical mechanism for strengthening interoperability — the ability of forces from different nations to operate seamlessly together — across communications, maneuvering and surveillance systems.
The inclusion of coast guard participation alongside naval and air assets also reflects a broader trend toward “whole-of-maritime” cooperation, integrating military and civilian agencies in addressing security challenges ranging from illegal fishing to gray-zone coercion. Philippine planners have in recent years emphasized that maritime domain awareness — the capacity to detect, track and interpret activity at sea — is a central pillar of national defense.
Officials said the February drills reinforced not only tactical coordination but also strategic trust among participating nations. The Philippines and the United States are bound by a mutual defense treaty, while Australia and the Philippines elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership in 2023, paving the way for expanded joint activities and defense cooperation agreements.
The MMCA framework has emerged as a trilateral complement to bilateral exercises such as Balikatan, long the centerpiece of U.S.-Philippine military cooperation. By incorporating Australia, planners aim to widen the network of capable maritime partners operating in the Indo-Pacific, where sea lanes underpin global trade and regional stability.
Philippine defense leaders have argued that such multilateral engagement enhances deterrence by complicating potential adversaries’ calculations and demonstrating that coercive actions against one state could draw coordinated responses from several. At the same time, officials stress that the exercises are defensive in nature and intended to support international law rather than provoke confrontation.
Military participants described the drills as routine yet consequential — part of a steady cadence of cooperation that has accelerated in recent years. The AFP said the activity “underscores a shared multinational resolve to strengthen interoperability and uphold freedom of navigation and overflight under international law,” a formulation that mirrors language used in prior joint patrol announcements.
The completion of the 14th MMCA comes as Manila continues to modernize its armed forces and expand defense diplomacy across the Indo-Pacific. Philippine officials have indicated that further multilateral maritime activities are planned throughout 2026, reflecting what they call a sustained commitment to collective maritime security.
For the Philippines, a maritime nation dependent on secure sea lanes for commerce and fisheries, such exercises carry both strategic and symbolic weight. By operating alongside Australian and American forces in the waters it calls the West Philippine Sea, Manila signals its determination to defend maritime rights while embedding its security within a broader network of allies and partners.