NMESIS missile system deployed for PH-US Kamandag Exercise

The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) will test the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), an American-made anti-ship missile system, during the Kamandag Exercise next week.

- By MARTIN SADONGDONG

Kamandag, or “Kaagapay ng mga Mandirigma Mula sa Dagat”, is an annual bilateral training between the PMC and USMC designed to enhance interoperability and readiness for joint territorial defense, particularly focused on archipelagic coastal defense in the Indo-Pacific region.

“The deployment of the NMESIS, which is the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, is part of Kamandag. Its objective is for us to be able to conduct joint operations or combined operations with other marine corps or other nations,” Philippine Navy spokesperson Captain John Percie Alcos said on Tuesday, May 27.

The NMESIS will be utilized in a maritime strike on June 1, according to Alcos. An advisory from the PMC showed that the maritime strike will be held in Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

However, the official did not clarify whether the NMESIS would be actually fired or if only “dry firing” would take place.