By Liz Lagniton | 2026-06-30

The Philippines and the United States are wrapping up the KAMANDAG 10 exercise, bringing together more than 2,000 troops from four countries for training focused on territorial defense, maritime security and interoperability across the Philippine archipelago.

The exercise began June 15 and runs through July 1. It involves the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC), U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) and South Korean Marine Corps, while Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Thailand sent observers.

Training is taking place in Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Palawan, Tawi-Tawi, Cavite and Metro Manila. It extends from the Philippines' northern approaches near Taiwan to its western and southern maritime regions, including waters near the South China Sea.

The geographic scope reflects the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, which aims to strengthen the country's ability to protect its maritime approaches, island territories and key sea lines of communication.

The exercise was strictly a U.S.-Philippine affair from 2016 through 2021. In 2022, South Korea and Japan sent observers. Multinational participation has grown since then.

Manila has been bolstering security cooperation with regional partners while confronting persistent tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea.

The PMC and USMC jointly opened KAMANDAG 10 at Marine Barracks Rudiardo Brown in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, on June 15.

"Exercise KAMANDAG marks its 10th iteration, evolving from bilateral engagement into a premier multinational platform built on trust, cooperation, and collective resolve," PMC Brig. Gen. Bob Apostol, exercise director for KAMANDAG 10, said during the opening ceremony.

Strategic shift

KAMANDAG has grown through the years alongside Manila's shift from internal security toward external and territorial defense.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) describes KAMANDAG 10 as a multidomain, joint and combined exercise designed to enhance maritime security, interoperability, contested logistics capabilities and combined readiness among allied and partner forces.

Apostol termed the exercise part of broader efforts to prepare participating forces for emerging security challenges.

"Readiness is not merely an option; it is a responsibility. Cooperation is not a convenience; it is a necessity. And interoperability is not an aspiration; it is an operational imperative," he said.

U.S. Marines with the 3rd Littoral Combat Team, 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, conducted a live-fire exercise on June 14–15 at Fort Magsaysay with armed first-person view-controlled systems, according to INDOPACOM.

The training marked the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment's first deployment of the attack drones to the Philippines. Conducted alongside Philippine marines, the live-fire exercise demonstrated the use of the systems in dense jungle terrain.

The drill was meant to enhance the forces' interoperability across complex maritime terrain and to strengthen coordination during potential military contingencies and humanitarian missions.

USMC Col. George Flynn, commanding officer of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin 26, said the exercise directly supports the Philippine military's Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept.

Flynn said the exercise would focus on "territorial defense, coastal defense operations, and seamless interoperability" across "dispersed nodes from Northern Luzon down to Palawan and Tawi-Tawi."

KAMANDAG 10 coincides with the 75th anniversary of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. USMC Col. Robert S. Bunn, commanding officer of Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia, described the milestone as reflecting the alliance's evolution from traditional military cooperation toward greater "operational integration."

Island defense

Among the exercise's most closely watched activities is a planned military free-fall operation involving JGSDF personnel in Batanes, the Philippines' northernmost province.

Batan Island lies roughly 200km from Taiwan and overlooks the Bashi Channel, a strategic waterway linking the South China Sea and the western Pacific that is considered one of the region's main maritime transit routes.

JGSDF personnel parachuted onto Batan Island in June as part of airborne training, the JGSDF said afterward on Instagram. The exercise was meant to assess readiness for contingencies that could arise in the region while improving coordination among partner militaries, said Apostol.

The participation highlights increasingly close defense ties between Manila and Tokyo following the implementation of a reciprocal access agreement that allows greater military cooperation between the two countries.

Another major event scheduled during KAMANDAG is an amphibious and airborne seizure of an airfield on Philippine-controlled Thitu Island in the Spratly Islands, one of several features in the South China Sea claimed by both Manila and Beijing.

Thitu is one of the Philippines' largest outposts in the disputed island chain and has become a focal point of Manila's efforts to strengthen its presence in the South China Sea.

The scenario reflects Manila's growing emphasis on defending remote island positions and sustaining operations across contested maritime areas.