Exercise Balikatan is the largest annual bilateral exercise conducted between the Philippines and the U.S with around 14,000 participants this year. It directly supports the U.S.-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty by ensuring our forces are tactically proficient, that capabilities and modernization efforts are mutually compatible, and by strengthening military-to-military coordination. “Balikatan” is a Tagalog term that means “shoulder-to-shoulder,” which characterizes the spirit of the exercise and represents the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.

PMTEC’s investments in Balikatan 2025 were numerous. PMTEC funded and integrated a Joint Interface Control Officer into the exercise to manage the crucial joint tactical data link network, effectively linking warfighters across the exercise. Furthermore, PMTEC provided critical analysis and planning capabilities through the deployment of the Joint After Action Review and Theater Operational Planning Tool, enabling the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) to conduct comprehensive playback debriefs and refine operational strategies.

Expanding on the success of Balikatan 2024, PMTEC enhanced the Joint Live, Virtual, and Constructive (JLVC) environment. This expanded JLVC capability linked ranges, resources, and warfighters across a distributed network providing Combined Joint Air and Missile Defense Operations vignettes while encompassing locations within and outside the continental United States. To strengthen cybersecurity preparedness, PMTEC supported use of the Deployable Cyber Range to augment exercise cyber protection teams. In a demonstration of joint support, the Philippine Navy's Naval Education, Training and Doctrine Command hosted the Joint Deployable Electronic Warfare Range, which simulated realistic air threats for the CJTF. Also, for the first time, a c-UAS live fire exercise was conducted against small unmanned aerial systems, demonstrably improving combined force lethality.

PMTEC's commitment also extended to coordinating critical exercise support. This year represented the first time US Army DEVCOM, C5ISR, Threat Systems Management Office, and Center for Countermeasures all participated, ensuring a comprehensive approach to addressing modern threats. PMTEC’s target manager facilitated collaboration with the U.S. Army's Threat Systems Management Office for target integration and the C5ISR Center for c-UAS support, ensuring realistic training scenarios that addressed the modern maritime and air threat landscape. Additionally, PMTEC investments led to myriad upgrades, networks, and data processing enhancements for the Combined Coordination Center Annex, marking its inaugural use during the exercise.

Beyond traditional combat training, PMTEC also identified an opportunity in Balikatan 2025 to enhance search and rescue capabilities. PMTEC arranged for the United States Coast Guard to train the U.S. Navy during Balikatan 2025 on deploying two Self-Locating Datum Marker Buoys (SLDMBs) designed to simulate the drift behavior of a person in the water. The buoys transmitted GPS location data in real

time, allowing Search and Rescue (SAR) planners to validate surface current forecasts and improve drift modeling accuracy, which is crucial for quickly locating individuals lost at sea. The real-time data collected from these SLDMBs enables the Navy Meteorological and Oceanographic Operation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service to assess the accuracy of their current predictions. This validation is critical to ensuring SAR response effectiveness, especially in the event a warfighter requires rescue in this operational area. Accurate drift predictions can significantly reduce search time and increase the probability of a successful rescue.

Dr. Andre Stridiron III, PMTEC Program Manager, stated “PMTEC’s operations, activities, and investments in Balikatan 2025 directly contribute to Secretary Hegseth’s priorities of ‘restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military, and reestablishing deterrence.’ By bridging across all domains – from maritime strike and cyber defense to search and rescue – and leveraging cutting-edge tools for analysis and realistic simulation, we’re operationalizing the Pacific Defense Initiative and directly supporting the U.S.-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty. This is more than just ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ training; it’s forging a truly interoperable force prepared to deter aggression and respond decisively alongside our allies and partners, strengthening our collective ability to compete and win.”

A robust and effective military-to-military relationship is critical for advancing our shared interests and upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific. It enhances Alliance readiness, bolsters deterrence, signals unwavering resolve, and aligns our collective efforts to preserve regional stability. PMTEC’s investments provided a robust and realistic training environment for Balikatan 2025, fostering interoperability, enhancing combined force lethality and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, and preparing U.S. and Philippine forces for complex security challenges today and in the future.