US, Australia, Canada, Philippines conclude MMCA naval drills off Manila

The United States, Australia, Canada, and the Philippines concluded a two-day Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) in Manila's exclusive economic zone on Thursday, August 8.

Defense and military officials from these four countries reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing regional cooperation for a free and open Indo-Pacific region through joint naval and air force operations that included communication drills, division tactics, anti-submarine warfare, cross-deck landing operations, and maritime domain awareness exercises.

Naval assets involved in the exercise included the Philippine Navy's BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) and BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16), Australia's Poseidon aircraft (P-8A), Canada's HMCS Montreal (FFH-336), and US vessels like USS Lake Erie (CG-70).

The participating nations successfully met all objectives of the exercise, with AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. highlighting the strong defense relationships and collective commitment to ensuring stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Despite the presence of Chinese warships during the drill, there were no significant incidents reported, and all activities concluded seamlessly as planned.