Balikatan in Ilocos: Phl, US troops fire at invasion’ force

Filipino and US troops fired missiles and artillery at an imaginary “invasion” force during war games at the La Paz sand dunes in Laoag, Ilocos Norte as part of the Balikatan exercise.

Thousands of troops are conducting land, sea and air maneuvers against a back drop of increased aggressiveness of the Chinese in Philippine waters, as well as their stepped-up air and naval activity around nearby self-ruled Taiwan.

At a strip of the La Paz sand dunes 400 kilometers south of Taiwan, US troops let loose more than 50 live 155mm howitzer rounds at floating targets about five kilometers off the coast.

Filipino troops followed up by firing rockets aimed at wearing down the attackers, before the two forces finished the job with machine guns, javelin missiles and more artillery rounds.

Lt. Gen. Michael Cederholm, commander of the US First Marine Expeditionary Force, said the exercise was “to prepare for the worst” by “securing key maritime terrain.”

“It’s designed to repel an invasion,” Cederholm told reporters at the exercise site.

“Our northwestern side is more exposed,” Maj. Gen. Marvin Licudine, exercise director for the Filipinos, said ahead of the live firing at the sand dunes near Laoag City.