US Opens Record Drills With Philippines as Iran War Rattles Allies

The US opened its largest defense exercises with the Philippines on Monday, underscoring how Washington is sustaining military presence in the Indo Pacific to counter China amid war in the Middle East.

This year’s “Balikatan” military exercises will also see a record number of troops, with participating nations sending more than 17,000 troops to maritime and live-fire exercises. These include Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and France.

The kickoff of the annual US-Philippine military drills comes a day after China dispatched a group of warships to hold drills in the western Pacific Ocean as Japan for the first time joins the Balikatan - “shoulder-to-shoulder” in Tagalog - exercises. 

“Regardless of the challenges elsewhere in the world, the United States’ focus on the Indo Pacific and our ironclad commitment to the Philippines remain unwavering,” US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Christian Wortman said during the opening of the drills at the Philippine military headquarters in Manila.

Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is also expected to observe a ship-sinking drill next month.

The expanded drills are being held amid fresh tensions in the Iran war. The conflict has caused crude costs to surge, threatening to slow down economic growth across Asia. It has also strained the US’ relations with allies, while leaving Washington looking weakened against adversaries. 

Ahead of the drills, the US struck a reassuring tone. US Colonel Robert Bunn, a spokesperson for the event, earlier highlighted the region’s importance and America’s commitment to its alliances.

The military exercises are also being conducted under the shadow of China’s lingering tensions with key US allies in Asia. Beijing last week accused Tokyo of stirring “trouble” with the presence of a Japanese Self-Defense Forces vessel in the Taiwan Strait.

China and the Philippines have been locked in a spat in the disputed South China Sea, with Beijing’s alleged use of cyanide and flares recently inflaming tensions. As his government contends with China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has strengthened the Philippines’ defense alliance with the US, while also entering into recent military agreements with France, Canada and New Zealand.

The expansion of this year’s exercises “shows that more and more nations are working towards a common goal, that is to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Philippine military spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla. The Southeast Asian nation’s armed forces has also maintained that the drills are not based on any geopolitical rivalry.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.