Philippines Eyes Expanded Balikatan 2026 Drills With US, Including Typhon and NMESIS Missile Systems

Jeoffrey Maitem - : Feb 24, 2026 - : 9:02 pm

The Philippines is looking to expand activities in its annual “Balikatan” exercises with the United States to allow Filipino troops to train in a multi-domain environment, including the use of missile systems, a senior naval official said Tuesday. Philippine Navy...

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Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad responded to reporters when asked whether the U.S. Typhon and NMESIS missile systems would be used in this year’s Balikatan drills, tentatively scheduled for April and May.

“The thrust of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for Balikatan and other exercises is to go from unilateral to bilateral to multilateral,” Trinidad said. “For Balikatan, we are looking at expanding activities that will allow the AFP to train in a multi-domain environment with modern weapons, including missile systems.”

Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises involving the United States, the Philippines and their partners are annual drills conducted under the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement, which governs large-scale military exercises between Washington and Manila.

A multi-domain environment refers to the synchronized use of military capabilities across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.

In 2024, the US deployed one Typhon unit – also known as the Mid-Range Capability – to northern Luzon during joint drills, and it has remained in the Philippines since. Capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500km, the system can reach parts of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait from the archipelago.

US Marines also deployed the Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, a mobile ground-based anti-ship missile launcher, to Batanes during the annual Balikatan exercises. The island chain lies about 190km south of Taiwan.

China strongly protested and repeatedly warned of “resolute countermeasures” over the deployments.

Trinidad said the AFP welcomes opportunities to train with modern weapons systems as it continues its modernization efforts.

“That includes missile systems. This is a great stop-gap while we await the completion of our modernization program,” he said.