US and Philippine troops will once again use and fire the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System or HIMARS in the ongoing Kaagapay ng mga Mandirigma mula sa Dagat (Kamandag) war games. This began on May 26 and will end on June 6.

The NMESIS is an anti-ship missile system. It is mounted on an unmanned ground vehicle (a large truck) called the ROGUE Fires Carrier and is equipped with a Naval Strike Missile (NSM). The US brought and used this in the Philippines for Balikatan 2025-40 last April.

The NSMs are missiles that can fly up to 185 kilometers and have a stealth feature evading radar detection. The US Marine Corps uses this system for long-range attacks against ships from land.

The two missile systems have reportedly been brought to the islands of Batanes and Babuyan for live firing. This northernmost part of the Philippines is part of what the US calls the “first island chain” against rival imperialist China.

“The presence of these powerful US missiles and the Kamandag war games, along with other military activities in the Philippines, will surely heighten the country’s tensions with China,” Communist Party of the Philippines information officer Marco Valbuena said. He said this brings nothing to the Filipino people but the threat of disaster.

Aside from activities in Batanes, live-fire drills will be held at Col. Ernesto Rabina Air Base in Capas, Tarlac, and a maritime strike operation in Burgos, Ilocos Norte under the Kamandag war games. There will also be activities in Palawan and other parts of Luzon and in Tawi-tawi in Mindanao.

Participating in the war games are 2,031 US Marine Corps soldiers and 2,028 forces from the Philippines. Military personnel from South Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom will also take part in the war games. Personnel from France, Canada, Bahrain, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Netherlands serve as observers in the provocative war games.

“The Filipino people should condemn the dangerous Kamandag war games as these trample on Philippine sovereignty and endanger Filipinos,” Valbuena added.

Concurrent with the Kamandag war games, the Kasangga 2025-01 war games between the Philippine Army and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is also being launched in Mindanao, and the Salaknib 2025 Phase 2 of the US and the Philippines in Northern Luzon.