About 260 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel joined the multinational Balikatan exercise in the Philippines in April 2025, reflecting the ADF’s increasing annual engagements in the Southeast Asian nation.
“The Philippines is one of Australia’s most important regional defence partners, and we share a commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” Royal Australian Navy Vice Adm. Justin Jones, the ADF’s joint operations chief, said in an April 2025 news release.
The ADF and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will conduct more than 20 training events and exchanges in 2025 under the Joint Australian Training Team-Philippines (JATT-P) program, which was established in 2019. That’s more than twice the engagements in 2024, according to the ADF.
“Our ongoing and deepening interactions with the Philippines signals our commitment to being a major and reliable defence partner in the region,” Jones said.
JATT-P engagements cover topics such as intelligence analysis, strategic communications, maritime sustainment, aviation safety, small boat operations, combat engineering and fire support.
“The 2025 program builds on the success of our previous engagements, encompassing maritime, land and air domains,” said Maj. Lachlan Newham, program coordinator. “We will also conduct engagement and training in cybersecurity, as well as logistics and support functions necessary for contemporary operations.”
Meanwhile, at the 40th iteration of Balikatan, Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force personnel conducted drills with about 16,000 troops from Japan, the Philippines and the United States. The exercise, which means shoulder to shoulder in the Philippine language Tagalog, is led by the Philippines and the U.S. and encompasses the air, cyber, land, sea and space domains. Sixteen other nations sent observers.
“Balikatan 2025 highlights the United States and Philippines’ commitment to their bilateral partnership as well as interoperability with other partner nations,” Jones said in a statement. “Australia’s participation demonstrates our commitment to security and stability, and engagement with the Indo-Pacific region.”
Also in April, the Royal Australian Navy guided-missile destroyer HMAS Sydney, the Philippine Navy guided-missile frigate BRP Antonio Luna, and Philippine and U.S. aircraft conducted a maritime cooperative activity in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
