Balikatan 2023 to test cyber security defense, hold live fire drill
MANILA, Philippines — As the Philippine-US alliance further develops along with the times, so do the threats the decades-old treaty partners’ must face and prepare for — and this means paying attention to cybersecurity threats and furthering capacities when it comes to defense strategies.
This year’s Balikatan exercises formally opened on April 11. Simulated war games will be held in North and Central Luzon, Palawan, as well as in Antique. Among this year’s main events is holding a cyber defense exercise, which will be held just as both the Philippines and the US’ military forces continue to modernize its capabilities.
The new exercise will also address what MGen Eric Austin, US exercise director representative, said is the “changing character of warfare.”
“The cyber defense exercise is more for us in the Philippine side to develop our cyber defense capabilities,” MGen Marvin Licudine, Philippine military exercise director, said in a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.
“We are not yet technically proficient on cyber defense, our systems are not that yet proficient so we [aim] to learn from the better ones, we learn from our counterparts so that’s how we develop our cyber defense capabilities in the near-future.”
Licudine said the Philippines also hopes to develop its own cybersecurity defense experts, who will then one day help other nations develop their own capabilities.
Aside from participating in Cyber Defense Exercise, the other main events are the command post exercise, cyber defense exercise, and humanitarian civic assistance (HCA). The joint training will give emphasis on maritime security, amphibious operations, live-fire exercises, urban and aviation operations and counterterrorism.
HCA activities, on the other hand, will be held in Antique, Ilocos Norte and Aurora.
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Exercising all military components
All three military components — navy, army, and the air force — will be part of the exercises this year, Balikatan 2023 Spokesman Col. Michael Logico told reporters on Tuesday.
Among the firsts is the plan to target a floating vessel during a littoral live fire exercise using “every weapon system of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States will be employing their HIMARS,” Logico said. Balikatan participants will be sinking a “very old” Philippine Navy ship on April 26 some 12 nautical miles from the coast of Zambales province.
“We do not just fire into the sea, we have to have a target,” Logico said. “We have to fire at a target that is closer to what we would expect in an actual threat, which is an intrusion coming from an adversary by sea.”
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been invited to witness the live fire drills. However, the chief executive has yet to confirm his attendance.
What else do you need to know about Balikatan 2023?
- It’s the 38th iteration and the largest-ever war games between the US and the Philippines – over 17,000 soldiers will participate, including 12,200 American troops, 5,400 Filipino soldiers, and 111 members of the Australian Defense Force.
- Military assets that will be used for the exercises come from the arsenal of both the AFP and the United States troops. Among them are the AFP’s Autonomous Truck Mounted Howitzer System and T-129 ATAK helicopters as well as the US Airforce’s F-16 Fighting Falcon.
- Other allied countries have been invited as observers to the war games, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, France, and some ASEAN nations.
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