MANILA, Philippines—Thousands of American and Filipino forces began on Monday one of their largest combat exercises in years that will include live-fire maneuvers, aircraft assaults, urban warfare, and beach landings in a showcase of U.S. firepower in the northern Philippines near its sea border with Taiwan.
The annual exercises, called Balikatan—Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder—will run up to April 8 with nearly 9,000 Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Army troops, including 5,100 American military personnel, to strengthen the longtime treaty allies’ “capabilities and readiness for real-world challenges,” U.S. and Philippine military officials said.
