The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the United States military have successfully completed their fourth Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) in the West Philippine Sea this year, reinforcing defense cooperation between the two allies amid continuing tensions in disputed maritime areas.

The six-day exercise, conducted from Sunday to Friday, involved Philippine and American naval, air force, and coast guard assets in a series of interoperability and maritime security drills.

The Philippine contingent included the frigate BRP Diego Silang, FA-50 fighter aircraft, AW109 and Sokol helicopters, C-208B aircraft, and Philippine Coast Guard vessels BRP Melchora Aquino and BRP Sindangan.

The United States participated with Coast Guard cutters Charles Moulthrope and Emlen Tunnell, a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and personnel from the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment.

According to the AFP, the exercises covered search-and-rescue operations, visit-board-search-and-seizure procedures, communications drills, division tactics maneuvers, photo exercises, and joint fires rehearsals.These activities were intended to improve coordination, operational readiness, and interoperability between Philippine and US forces.

The AFP stated that the successful completion of the MCA demonstrates the continuing commitment of both countries to strengthen maritime cooperation, improve maritime domain awareness, and support a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region.The activity also followed the deployment of a Philippine Navy contingent to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026 exercise in Hawaii.

The exercises took place against the backdrop of ongoing disputes in the West Philippine Sea, where China continues to assert broad claims despite a 2016 international arbitral ruling that invalidated those claims and affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights within its exclusive economic zone.