2024 Balikatan will be more naval

Next year’s “Balikatan” exercises between Filipino and American forces will give more focused on maritime or naval drills, in contrast to past editions which are more land-based and more intensive, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.

Meanwhile, Brawner also said they have yet to monitor the possibility of additional structures being built by China in Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) off the province of Zambales.

Owing to the more naval orientation of the 2024 episode, the strength of the participating troops was estimated to be at 16,000 personnel, a bit lower than the 17,767 soldiers who saw action in this year’s exercise, Brawner told reporters.

“Dahil nag-shift tayo ng focus sa maritime, hindi na ‘yun manpower intensive. Dati kung Army, land-based, ang daming tropa yan. Ngayon, pag shift ka ng maritime, yung barko hindi mo naman pwedeng dagdagagan ng tao, kung ano lang yung talagang crew nya, kailangan yun lang (Because we have shifted focus on maritime, manpower would not be that intensive. Unlike the land-based using the Army that requires a lot of troops. Now, if you shift to maritime, you cannot add additional personnel to the ships which have a definitive number of crewmen),” Brawner explained.

He said some of the possible maritime drills for next year’s “Balikatan” include naval gunnery, anti-submarine drills, resupply at sea, and helicopter landing drills or flight deck exercises.

This year’s “Balikatan” was held on April 11 – 28, and was considered the biggest in the 38-year history of the joint exercises.

AFP assets used included the newly-acquired ATMOS 155mm self-propelled howitzers, 105mm howitzers, S-70i “Black Hawk” helicopters, Embraer A-29 “Super Tucano” attack planes, FA-50 jet fighters, T-129 “Atak” helicopters, SF-260 light bombers, AW-109, and MD-520MG light attack helicopters, missile frigates, and landing docks.

Among the highlights of the exercise were the sinking of the decommissioned World War II BRP Pangasinan (PS-31) which was blasted by combined Filipino and American forces off Zambales last April 26.

“As of now, there are no structures in Scarborough Shoal,” Brawner said in an