Philippine Navy joins international fleet review, naval exercises in India

The Philippine Navy has joined the 3rd International Fleet Review (IFR) and Multilateral Naval Exercise (MILAN) 2026 that will be in India for the first time.

Philippine Navy Spokesperson Captain Marissa Martinez said during a briefing that vessel FFG06 has departed with more than 100 personnel, doctors and staff for the fleet review.

“The first activity would be the International Fleet Review, to be followed immediately by the multinational exercise. The multinational exercise is composed of several events that includes patrols, includes HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response) activities, and also other activities to surface warfare,” she shared.

The IFR and MILAN 2026 will be held in Visakhapatnam, India from February 15 to 25 and intends to engage participants with professional exchanges, operational drills and cultural celebrations regarding matters at sea.

Martinez underscored that the Philippines’ participation was through an invitation, and is being done for the first time.

“Your Philippine Navy, because of its vision 2040, which is to be a modern and multidomain self reliant naval force and a credible partner in the region. Because of that vision, your navy has several initiatives in order to not only develop its platforms on warfare but also be involved in the conduct of exercises, maritime cooperative activities. And one of this is the exercise in India,” she said.

“We know for a fact that India is very far… So, it just proves the capability of our ships which are the FFG06 and BRP Miguel Malvar, it’s capability to go across that area,” she added.

The Philippines joined 22 other countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, France, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Maldives, Oman, Russia, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UK, UAE, USA, and Vietnam.

“The IFR consists of several activities. It's a subject matter exchange, bilateral meetings. So it is embedded in the MILAN 26, the multilateral exercise,” she said. — BAP, GMA Integrated News