APARRI, CAGAYAN — Combined Philippine and United States forces simulated countering a seaborne invasion of Northeast Luzon on Saturday as part of this year’s Exercise Balikatan.

Joint marine and army units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the United States Armed Forces (USAF) conducted a counter-landing live-fire exercise in Aparri, Cagayan, showcasing the country’s coastal defense capabilities reinforced through allied support.

“We are countering a seaborne invasion from an external threat. We engaged them using several waves of weapon systems,” BGen. Michael Logico, assistant director for Balikatan exercises, told reporters in a media interview.

Logico said the counter-landing operation is designed to intercept an enemy at a distance and continue engaging them as they advance toward shore.

“The enemy that we are fighting against here is an amphibious force coming from surface ships, deploying an amphibious force whose intent is to establish a foothold on the beaches to move inland, once that mission has been accomplished. So a counter-landing is intended to stop them in the deep area and continue to engage them as they move closer,” Logico explained.

The counter-landing demonstration is seen to improve interoperability, joint operations, and firepower coordination.

“We are preparing the ground forces for all phases of operations, beginning with the littoral battle and then after this we intend to engage them in a defense in depth, trying to avoid the centers of population and then further engage the enemy in a pitched battle,” Logico said.

He added that the objective of each phase of the operation is to regain the initiative and either drive the enemy back to the sea or defeat them on land.

Coastal defense drills

The scenario involves denying a large enemy amphibious task group the opportunity to secure a foothold in Northern Luzon.

There were 30 mock enemy targets located as far as eight kilometers from the beachfront.

The US Marine Corps supported the Philippine Marine Corps by employing a close air strike using its fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, including four Boeing AH-64 Apache aircraft and F-18 fighter jets.

This was followed by a joint and combined artillery operation by the Philippine Army and US Army using their respective 155mm ATMOS and 105mm Howitzer artillery guns. The F-16 Fighting Falcon jets also employed close air support in the operations.