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PHILIPPINES (April 26, 2025) — U.S. Marines with Medium-Range Missile Battery, 3d Marine Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division conduct a simulated fire-mission with the Navy-Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System in Basco, Philippines, April 26, 2025. This marks the inaugural deployment of the newly fielded Marine Corps weapon system to the Philippines and serves as a major milestone for the continuously developing U.S.-Philippine Alliance. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Maksim Masloboev)