Overview
- The Balikatan 2026 drills opened Monday with more than 17,000 troops from the U.S., the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France and Canada for 19 days of joint training through May 8.
- The program features live-fire events in northern Luzon near the Taiwan Strait and activities in areas close to the South China Sea.
- Japan sent 1,400 personnel and will fire a Type 88 anti-ship missile at a sea target north of Paoay in its most visible role to date.
- The U.S. described its presence as one of its largest recent deployments and said the exercise would not be cut back by the Middle East conflict.
- China denounced the drills as intimidation and began its own Pacific maneuvers, with Taiwan tracking the carrier Liaoning in the strait and Japan noting a rare transit via the Yokoate channel.