The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) will test its ability to integrate, plan, and execute firing and tactics plans to sink a mock enemy ship as they kick off the Marine Aviation Support Activity (MASA) 23 on Thursday, July 6.
(File photo: Philippine Marine Corps)
PMC spokesperson Capt. Jarald Rea said the sinking exercise (SINKEX) or maritime strike will be one of the highlights of the MASA 23, a bilateral military exercise between the two marine forces.
“The objective of MASA 23 is to enhance the capabilities of the combined forces in conducting aviation-supported operations through the conduct of joint and combined training and exercises that will develop the proficiency in undertaking aviation-related tasks,” Rea told reporters on Wednesday, July 5.
The former BRP Lake Caliraya, a decommissioned replenishment tanker of the Philippine Navy (PN), will be the target of the sinking exercise to be held off the coast of San Antonio, Zambales on July 13.
Rea said the ship will be treated as a hostile vessel that will attempt to invade or land in the shores of Zambales, a province in the northern part of the country which is the subject of several military drills recently due to its proximity to Taiwan.
Taiwan is a potential flashpoint of heightened tension between China and US due to issues on sovereignty. China claims that the self-governed Taiwan is part of its territory and the US committed to help the latter in case of an invasion.
“We will be focusing on coastal defense, and then it’s like a counter-landing [operation],” Rea said of the sinking exercise.
Counter-landing operation refers to the disruption of a hostile vessel’s attempt to touch down.
The participants in the sinking exercise include several navy ships such as landing craft BRP Waray (LC-288), patrol gunboat BRP Nestor Reinoso (PC-380), corvette BRP Conrado Yap (PS-39), and patrol craft BRP Manuel Gomez (PC-388), as well as aircraft from the Naval Air Wing. Various American vessels will also see action in the exercise.
Rea said a total of 1,257 military personnel from the PMC and 1,444 troops from the USMC will join the two-week drill, which will run up to July 21. This is the biggest number of participants from both countries for the said bilateral exercise.
There will also be 115 military reservists from the AFP that will be incorporated in the drill.
The sinking exercise for MASA 23 will follow the first time that combined forces from the AFP and US military sank a mock enemy ship.
The first SINKEX was held last April 26 when Filipino and American troops worked together to take down the former BRP Pangasinan, a World War II-era corvette, during the Balikatan Exercise 2023 in San Antonio, Zambales.