Philippine, American, Japanese, Canadian and French forces held surface warfare drills in the South China Sea this week in Manila’s latest multilateral naval exercise.
The combat training activities off Western Palawan are under Sama Sama, a U.S. and Philippine-led exercise series that brings navies together to train in the Sulu and South China seas.
This year’s iteration combined warships and aircraft from five nations under Naval Task Group 44.1. Composed of USS Cincinnati (LCS-20), HMCS Max Bernays (AOPV-432), BRP Antonio Luna (FF 151), BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS 16), BRP Valentin Diaz (PS 177), BRP Lolinato To-Ong (PG 902) and JS Ōnami (DD 111), the task force has conducted live-fire gunnery, anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and other exercises at sea throughout the week.
The formation is one of the largest combined flotillas fielded in Philippine maritime drills this year.
American, Philippine and French naval aviation also participated in the exercise, including one of France’s Pacific-deployed Falcon 50M maritime surveillance aircraft and a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
The vessels of Naval Task Group 44.1 practiced combined operations as a surface action group against another notional formation during Sama Sama to test tactical maneuvering, battle coordination and maritime warfare proficiency.
A Philippine Navy news release also described the Sama Sama activities as “high-end combined naval operations at sea.”
The location of these drills off Western Palawan puts the allied warships and aircraft’s operations in proximity to occupied Chinese maritime features in the Spratly Islands. An incident this week saw the ramming and use of water cannons against Manila’s fishery vessels operating near Thitu Island, the largest Philippine-occupied feature in the South China Sea.
U.S. and Philippine Marines are expected to simulate a maritime strike in cooperation with the task force’s aircraft and vessels. While unspecified, the American and Filipino Marines have previously simulated long-range fires during naval drills with ground-based missile systems. Sama Sama 2025 is set to conclude tomorrow.
Amid tensions in the South China Sea and military modernization efforts, the Philippines has ramped up international defense cooperation with allies and partners to train its forces on conventional operations.
These exercises, often flagged as deterrence measures against Beijing’s coercive measures in the region, have included long-range missile systems, forward-deployed foreign forces and strategic deployments across the Southeast Asian archipelago.
