Source: International Business Times
US marines fire MADIS counter drone system during the annual US-Philippines joint military exercise "Balikatan" at a naval training base in San Antonio town on april 27, 2025 AFP Missiles fired off the coast of the northern Philippines Sunday as US and Filipino forces conducted their first integrated defence drills, hours after China said it had seized control of a reef claimed by Manila. The Philippines and China have been engaged in months of confrontations over the South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. As many as 17,000 personnel are participating in the annual "Balikatan" exercises, which this year will simulate a "full-scale battle scenario" as the treaty allies seek to deter China's ambitions in the disputed waterway.
