Navy asserts deployment of US missile system in ‘Kamandag’ exercises

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy maintained that it will deploy the American anti-ship missile Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) in this year’s “Kamandag” exercises.



The exercises began on Monday. They involve the Philippine Marine Corps and counterparts from the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom.

“The deployment of the NMESIS is part of Kamandag,” Navy spokesperson Capt. John Percie Alcos said at a Camp Aguinaldo briefing on Tuesday.

When asked if the Navy was anticipating a response from China to the NMESIS deployment, Alcos stressed in Filipino, “No other nation has a say regarding the deployment of assets, whether it is our own or belongs to our allies.”

“So, we will continue to deploy or train with our allies in the objective of enhancing combined operations,” Alcos added.

China previously opposed the deployment of the US mid-range capability Typhon missile in the Philippines. The missile was first used in the 2024 “Balikatan” exercises between Manila and Washington.

The NMESIS was the second US missile deployed to the Philippines and was used in the 2025 “Balikatan” exercises last April.

READ: US anti-ship missile NMESIS now in PH as ‘security anxiety’ looms

“Its objective is for us to be able to conduct joint operations or combined operations with other marine corps of allied nations,” Alcos said.

“It is not aimed towards specific threats or specific issues that are currently happening adjacent to where it is going to be fired,” the Navy spokesperson added.

Alcos did not specify when the NMESIS would be deployed during the drills, saying it “depends on the actual criteria that will be met on the day of the maritime strike demonstration.”

“The objective is to be able to maximize this particular training activity,” he said.

“This is one of the capabilities that we intend to have.”

Kamandag 09-25

The ninth iteration of the “Kamandag” exercises will be conducted across the Northern Luzon Command, the Western Command and the Western Mindanao Command as well as selected locations in Cavite and Manila, Alcos detailed.

According to the Navy spokesperson, the exercises aim to tackle the following:

• command and control


• maritime key terrain security operations


• maritime strike


• counter-landing and defensive retrograde operations


• coastal defense live fire integration and special operations


• subject matter expert exchanges

READ: More drills between PH, US troops set in Batanes, Palawan 

“There will be military observers coming from France, the Netherlands, Bahrain, Australia, Thailand, Canada and Indonesia. More than a dozen international observers will be participating in Kamandag,” Alcos said.

Kamandag is an acronym that stands for “kaagapay ng mga mandirigma mula sa dagat” (cooperation of the warriors of the sea.)

The exercises will run until June 6.

/gsg

(2025/05/27-15:18)