The 3rd MLR has conducted numerous simulated fire missions in support of U.S.-Philippine exercises in the Luzon Strait and South China Sea since arriving on Luzon in April.
The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment deployed its Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction Systems and sensor network to simulate anti-ship strikes across the Luzon Strait, alongside supporting assets from the joint force and Armed Forces of the Philippines, for KAMANDAG 9 and the seventh U.S.-Philippine bilateral maritime cooperative activity.
Last month, the Marines equipped with the unmanned Naval Strike Missile launchers and radars from the unit returned to Batanes and other islands in the Luzon Strait, a crucial first island chain chokepoint between Taiwan and the Philippines, shortly after their departure following the conclusion of Balikatan 2025. While the unit practiced notional anti-ship strikes at Balikatan, KAMANDAG’s activity was described in greater detail through a unit release following the rehearsal.
U.S. and Philippine Marines pulled security for the Medium-Range Missile Battery in Batanes, where it networked with a Navy P-8A Poseidon and distributed littoral reconnaissance teams to identify and track simulated maritime targets. Specialized command and control formations organized the data and coordinated the NMESIS units for the notional anti-ship strikes. KAMANDAG’s maritime key terrain security operation drills in Batanes proved the unit’s “capability to interdict maritime targets from key terrain in support of maintaining open sea lines of communication,” stated the release.
While American and Philippine forces have been practicing the command and control of anti-ship strikes for years amid their increased cooperation on territorial defense threats, KAMANDAG’s activity was among the first drills where U.S. forces fielded the maritime strike capability, sensors and the command and control together. In previous exercises, such as Balikatan 2023, Marine Aviation Support Activity 2024 and others, the Marines stressed the need to achieve a command and control capability to ensure their fires and other contributions to the joint force could be properly deployed.
Aside from the strategic implications of training in anti-ship strikes within the Luzon Strait, and what it may have on vessels transiting the area during a conflict, the training conducted with NMESIS and the active formations of the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment have demonstrated that the system could be deployed and supported by the force on Batanes. Balikatan and KAMANDAG withdrew and subsequently reintroduced the highly mobile unmanned anti-ship missile launchers to the islands.
As KAMANDAG wound down, the regiment joined the seventh joint patrol between American and Philippine forces in the South China Sea on Wednesday. An Armed Forces of the Philippines release highlighted the participation of the American unit, stating that their involvement “tested joint coordination in a littoral combat environment, integrating forward observers, command and control elements, and fire support platforms for a smooth maritime operational effectiveness.”
The release also stated that the unit was based in Subic during the maritime cooperative activity. Compared to other joint patrols focused on asserting the freedom of navigation in the hotly contested waters, this exercise included what Manila described as “defense training” through the participation of the NMESIS-equipped formation and BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06). These activities marked the first time that the brand-new Philippine Navy guided-missile frigate participated in combat drills.
