Regional security boost: AFP joins US, Australia, Japan in multilateral maritime activity in West Philippine Sea
NAVAL and air units from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the United States Indo-Pacific Command, the Australian Defense Force and the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) successfully conducted the first multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MMCA) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on Sunday.
In a statement, AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the exercise was held within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone and involved naval vessels and aircraft from the four countries.
Participants included the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PS-15) with AW-109 helicopter, BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151) with AW-159 “Wildcat” anti-submarine warfare helicopter, and BRP Valentin Diaz (PS-177) from the Philippine Navy; the USS Mobile and a P-8A “Poseidon” from the United States Navy; the Royal Australian Navy HMAS Warramunga and Royal Australian Air Force P-8A “Poseidon” maritime patrol aircraft; and the JS Akebono from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces.
“The MMCA demonstrated the participating countries’ commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific through interoperability exercises in the maritime domain. It will also contribute greatly to the AFP’s capability development,” Trinidad said.
The participating ships performed communication exercises, division tactics or officer of the watch maneuver, and a photo exercise.
These activities were designed to enhance the different forces’ abilities to work together effectively in maritime scenarios.
The AFP earlier said the MMCA was successfully completed with no untoward incident as of 4:52 p.m. and all planned exercises conducted.
“Demonstrating our collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, our combined defense/armed forces will conduct a MCA within the Philippine EEZ on April 7, 2024,” said the statement signed by Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles, Japan Minister for Defense Minoru Kihara, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. and US Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin III.