Exercise Balikatan 2025

29.04.2025

Exercise Balikatan 2025

Why in the news?   

As many as 17,000 personnel are participating in the annual “Balikatan” exercises, which this year will simulate a “full-scale battle scenario” as the treaty allies seek to deter China’s ambitions in the waterway.

About Balikatan Exercise:

• It is the largest bilateral exercise conducted between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States.
• “Balikatan,” a Tagalog phrase that means “shoulder-to-shoulder,”  characterizes the spirit of the exercise and represents the alliance between the Philippines and the United States.
• Held annually, Exercise Balikatan is designed to enhance military interoperability and readiness in support of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines.
• The 2025 edition is the 40th iteration of the exercise.
  • Distinguishing itself from past iterations, Balikatan 25 will feature a Full Battle Test that incorporates real-world forces and events into a virtual and constructive exercise scenario.
  • The exercise will span all domains—air, land, sea, space, and cyber—testing the interoperability between U.S. and Philippine forces to simulate the defense of Philippine sovereignty.
  • The exercise will consist of four primary components: a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) operation, humanitarian civic assistance (HCA) activities, a command-and-control exercise (C2X), and a Multilateral Maritime Exercise (MME).
  • Each component will encompass several training events and engagement throughout the Philippines.

                               Source: The Hindu

Balikatan Exercise, recently seen in the news, is a bilateral exercise between which two countries?

A.United States and Japan

B.Russia and China

C.United States and Philippines

D.China and North Korea

Answer C