US Marines Rehearse Seizing 3 Philippine Islands With NMESIS as Balikatan Spans 17 Sites
Updated
Updated · Defense News · May 15
US Marines Rehearse Seizing 3 Philippine Islands With NMESIS as Balikatan Spans 17 Sites
1 articles · Updated · Defense News · May 15
Three Philippine islands in the Batanes chain hosted U.S. Marine NMESIS teams during Balikatan 2026, expanding from one island last year as troops rehearsed securing the Luzon Strait.
Seventeen locations across the archipelago tested the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment’s dispersed operations model, with C-130Js and LCU-2000 craft moving forces and a Basco detachment simulating anti-ship fires for 72 hours.
MADIS counter-drone vehicles also live-fired in Zambales, where crews focused on tracking and tactics rather than maximizing kills during an integrated air-defense demonstration.
More than 2,000 personnel in the Hawaii-based 3rd MLR used the April 20-May 8 exercise to validate expeditionary tactics with Philippine and regional partners, reflecting the Marine Corps’ push to modernize for contested littoral warfare.
How will the Marines' new island-hopping missile units survive against a peer adversary's overwhelming firepower?
With new missile systems in the Philippines, is the U.S. building a deterrent shield or a conflict magnet?