Balikatan Exercise 2025 to simulate 'full battle' -DND

Next year’s Balikatan, the annual joint military exercise between the Philippines and the United States, will simulate a full battle, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Friday.

In his speech during the closing ceremony of Balikatan 2024, Teodoro said the full battle simulation will test the capabilities of the two countries in the “most realistic” scenarios.

“I was with our President yesterday and informed him that today would be the closing ceremonies of the Balikatan and he extends his congratulations to both armed forces and all those who participated in the successful conduct of this year's exercise,” he said.

“He looks forward to next year's exercise which will be, I believe, a full battle simulation, which will put to the test the combined capabilities in the most realistic of scenarios possible with safety in mind.”

In a press conference right after the ceremony, Philippine Exercise Director Major General Marvin Licudine said the full battle test would be a more demanding exercise.

“The challenges of this exercise will be more elevated. It would require a better force integration, an integration that would be seamless, as I have mentioned, because we have to perform. There should be no defects already in the organization, policy, and all the aspects,” he added.

On Friday, the Philippine and US forces officially closed Balikatan 2024, which was the biggest iteration of the exercise in terms of scale and complexity.

The AFP sent 5,000 personnel, mainly from the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) and Western Command (WESCOM), to join the Balikatan activities.

Around 11,000 US servicemen took part: 3,700 US Marines, 1,200 soldiers, 4,000 US Navy personnel, 400 airmen and Air National Guardsmen, as well as 750 US Special Operations forces.

Also, the Australian Defense Force deployed around 150 personnel. — DVM, GMA Integrated News