The Philippine Navy (PN) on Monday announced that one of the six offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) it ordered from South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the prospective Rajah Sulayman (PS-20), arrived in the country on Jan. 17.
The vessel is scheduled for technical inspection and assessment before it is commissioned and officially accepted into service.
“The PN’s newest OPV, the future BRP Rajah Sulayman (PS-20), has arrived in the country from South Korea, which marks another significant addition to the Navy’s growing modern fleet, on January 17, 2026,” PN public affairs office chief Commander Marie Angelica Sisican said in a statement.
South Korean media earlier reported that the ship departed Ulsan on Jan. 13 for its voyage to the Philippines. Upon entering Philippine waters, the vessel was met off the coast of Zambales by the country’s first guided-missile frigate, BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), in accordance with standard naval protocols.
“After completing coordination and meeting procedures at sea, the future BRP Rajah Sulayman will begin post-delivery activities and technical checks,” Sisican said.
She added that BRP Rajah Sulayman is scheduled to undergo acceptance and pre-commissioning processes before its formal entry into active service.
“(This) underscores the PN’s commitment to strengthening its maritime defense and law enforcement capabilities through a modern, multi-domain, and self-reliant force,” Sisican said.
BRP Rajah Sulayman was launched on June 11, 2025, at the HD HHI shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea.
The BRP Rajah Sulayman is the first of the six OPVs ordered from shipbuilder HD HHI, worth around PHP30 billion in 2022. (PNA)

Forward-deployed U.S. sailors and Marines are training alongside the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and other allied militaries in the Philippine Sea as part of Annualex, a multilateral exercise held every other year.
Led by Japanese destroyer carrier JS Kaga (DDH-184), the exercise kicked off Monday with the goal of refining existing combat interoperability capabilities, enhancing readiness across platforms and deterring regional instability and aggression, officials said.
“This year’s Annualex focuses on enhancing the Japan and U.S. bilateral alliance within a multilateral context through maritime communication tactics, anti-submarine warfare operations, air warfare operations, replenishment-at-sea and more,” reads U.S. 7th Fleet news release.
Representing the U.S. this year are: cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG-62), destroyer USS Shoup (DDG-86), dry cargo ships USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE-6) and USNS Wally Schirra (T-AKE-8), fleet-oiler USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO-199), a submarine, P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II assigned to the “Bats” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242. Imagery released Monday by the U.S. Defense Department also shows F-35Cs assigned to the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147 taking part in the drills. VFA-147 forms part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW-5) assigned to aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73).
Japan will contribute destroyers and a submarine.
This year’s iteration also includes participation for the first time from France, which is joining Australia, Canada and New Zealand alongside the U.S. and Japan.
France is deploying surveillance frigate FS Prairial (F731) for the drills. The frigate is based in French Polynesia. The Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) offshore patrol vessel HMCS Max Bernays (AOPV432) will join the drills, as well. Max Bernays is the only RCN ship deployed in the region.
Australian and New Zealand forces will participate while also conducting routine surveillance on North Korean maritime sanctions violations. Fleet oiler HMNZS Aotearoa (A11), as well as P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both countries, will join Annualex between surveillance missions.

Other participating forces will include the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Air Force (RAAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), French Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF).
It is unclear how long Annualex will run. In 2023, Annualex spanned 11 days, from Nov. 10-20.
“This exercise will strengthen the ties between France, Japan and the United States, following on from the Pacific Steller exercise that took place in February of this year, bringing together 15 units around the French, American and Japanese carrier battle groups,” reads a French Ministry of the Armed Forces news release.
Coinciding with Annualex is Japan’s Self-Defense Force 2025 Joint Exercise, which is taking place at military bases across Japan. U.S. and Australian armed forces will participate in part of the exercise, according to a Japan Joint Staff Office (JSO) news release.
The JSDF will deploy approximately 52,300 personnel, 4,180 vehicles, 60 ships and 310 aircraft. The U.S. will contribute 5,900 personnel and another 230 troops from the Australian Defense Force will participate. No details were given on U.S. assets participating in the drills.
Troops will drill on anti-ship attack training using Japan’s mobile anti-ship missile launchers, as well as amphibious and airborne operations in Japan’s southwest region. Base security exercises will be conducted on Japanese and U.S. military bases. Japan’s ground forces will rehearse deployments via rotary wing aircraft and sea transportation, partnering with U.S. Navy amphibious ships. A Japanese submarine will also dock at U.S. port facilities to conduct a replenishment.
The exercise will conclude Oct. 31. (Dzirhan Mahadzir/USNI News)

Philippine forces trained last week to defend Balabac, a strategic island in Palawan that is set to host a new military base dedicated to South China Sea operations.
Philippine Marines and Coast Guard special forces held joint maritime boarding operations in t

he vicinity of Balabac Island, which has been recognized as a strategic basing location by Manila amid its push to increase the country’s defensive capabilities. The quiet island is located next to a strait of the same name separating the Philippine province of Palawan from Malaysia and near several South China Sea hotspots.
According to a Philippine Coast Guard release, the boarding drill was meant to “prevent hostile forces from establishing a foothold in the vicinity” of Balabac Island. A high-altitude insertion also dropped force reconnaissance Marines onto Balabac during the exercise in what the Philippine Navy claimed was a demonstration of their ability to operate and seize objectives in a “contested littoral environment.”
The activity was one of several across the Philippines held under Marine Aviation Support Activity 2025, an annual bilateral U.S.-Philippine Marine exercise focused on enhancing aerial interoperability. Last year’s iteration saw U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs drop precision-guided munitions on targets in the South China Sea.

The presence of the Coast Guard Special Operations group in the drill comes as both Washington and Manila seek to bolster Philippine law enforcement capabilities in more territorial defense activities. Special operations forces from the Palawan-based agency have received training from U.S. Navy SEALs. The Philippine National Police also deployed its Special Action Force during Balikatan drills and to the frontlines of the Philippine-Chinese territorial dispute in the Spratly Islands.
In 2023, Balabac Island was selected as one of nine sites across the Philippine archipelago to host American-funded facilities and rotationally deployed U.S. forces under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. The move coincided with increased tensions between Manila and Beijing over maritime features in the South China Sea, including the nearby Second Thomas Shoal.
The strait, one of several going through Philippine waters, has also seen increased attention from American and Chinese forces. Washington and Beijing have utilized the strait for transiting warships, including aircraft carriers, in previous years between the first and second island chains.
Philippine policymakers have recently noted the military implications of these transits and have passed a new archipelagic sea lanes law to strengthen the country’s sovereignty. Chinese carriers, destroyers, cutters and spy ships have reportedly traversed Philippine archipelagic waters without notifying Manila.
Manila plans to construct significant naval and air base infrastructure at Balabac, including a pier capable of hosting destroyer-sized vessels and a three-kilometer-long runway. Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gibo Teodoro has noted the importance of these future facilities in maintaining Philippine presence and maritime domain awareness capabilities in the South China Sea.
Recent Philippine Senate hearings have revealed that these projects are delayed as a result of funding shortfalls. ( 

A People’s Liberation Army Z-9 utility helicopter made low-altitude monitoring flights Oct. 7, 2025, as the Philippine Coast Guard provided supplies to local fishermen near the Sabina Shoal. (Philippine Coast Guard photo)

Manila provided supplies and protection to Philippine fishermen against a fleet of Chinese patrol ships, warships and aircraft operating in the South China Sea near two disputed maritime features on Tuesday.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) dispatched a total of 15 cutters and offshore vessels early Tuesday to resupply and escort fishermen operating in the vicinity of the Scarborough and Sabina shoals, according to an agency press release. The assistance mission falls under the country’s Kadiwa Initiative, which aims to bolster Filipino fishery output in the disputed waters amid Chinese harassment and supply constraints.
The deployment included the country’s largest cutters, BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) and BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702).
Chinese forces responded by deploying 34 cutters and maritime militia vessels around the two shoals and engaged in “intimidation tactics,” according to the PCG. Footage from the PCG shows Chinese forces shadowing and closing in on the agency’s vessels.
Despite the Chinese presence, around 100 Philippine vessels received fuel, food and other supplies to extend their fishing operations in the South China Sea, reads the PCG’s news release.
“The Philippine Coast Guard, alongside our partners at BFAR, will never back down in defending the rights and livelihoods of our Filipino fishermen,” PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan said in the release.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) also deployed the Type 054A frigate Hengyang (568) to communicate a live-fire drill notice to the Philippine vessels near Scarborough, which reportedly caused concern among the Filipino fishermen gathering for resupply near Scarborough Shoal. This is the second instance in recent months of the Chinese military utilizing live-fire notifications against Philippine civilian fishermen, following a similar incident in September at Scarborough Shoal.
At Sabina Shoal, a Z-9 utility helicopter made low-altitude monitoring flights in order to intimidate the Kadiwa mission, according to the PCG. These PLAN aviation assets could be launched from the fleet’s warships or several artificial island bases Beijing has built off the Philippine coast. Sabina was previously the site of another standoff between the two nations last year, which saw Teresa Magbanua stationed at the shoal until a Chinese blockade forced the PCG flagship to withdraw.
Ben Lewis, a co-founder of PLATracker, an organization dedicated to monitoring Chinese military activity and development, told USNI News that China’s continued military involvement may lead to accidental escalation and miscalculation in the ongoing maritime dispute between the Philippines and China.
“Beijing’s decision to again use the threat of live-fire activities by the People’s Liberation Army in their effort to enforce their illegal territorial claim is concerning, as is the use of a PLA Navy helicopter to intimidate civilian fishermen,” Lewis said. “As the PRC increases the intensity of its activities – the risk of miscalculation, like the collision that occurred in August – or accidental escalation will grow at a commensurate rate.”
Tuesday’s encounter comes amid an intensified focus on Scarborough from the Philippines and China following a collision between Chinese naval vessels, Beijing’s national nature reserve claim and Philippine concerns of a Chinese seizure of the shoal.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs reasserted Manila’s sovereignty over the shoal on the same day, noting that “some countries have been articulating an erroneous opinion that intentionally misreads certain treaties upon which the extent of Philippine territory is partly based.” (Aaron-Matthew Lariosa, USNI News)

The Western Mindanao Naval Command (WMNC), through OC7, successfully conducted a Civil-Military Operations (CMO) from the Sea from 25 to 29 August 2025. The primary objective of the mission was to further strengthen the bond and cooperation between the Armed Forces and the civilian population, while also demonstrating the Philippine Navy’s commitment not only to national defense but also to humanitarian and community development initiatives.
As part of the mission, BRP IVATAN (LC298) was able to successfully dock at Pata Island Pier to provide support for a medical mission organized for the residents of the island. This critical effort facilitated the seamless transport of medical personnel, equipment, and supplies to the remote community, ensuring that healthcare services could be delivered to citizens who have limited access to medical facilities. The activity highlighted the Navy’s capacity to extend its logistical and operational capabilities beyond combat operations, making it a vital partner in humanitarian support and disaster response.
In addition to the medical mission, the crew also organized community engagement activities for the residents of Pata Island. One of these included a movie viewing and the provision of food, which created a light and friendly atmosphere for both the civilians and the sailors. This simple yet meaningful initiative helped the people of Pata Island feel at ease with the presence of uniformed personnel. It broke down barriers of fear or hesitation, showing that soldiers are not only associated with warfare and conflict but are also capable of bringing joy, assistance, and goodwill to communities. Such activities play a key role in building mutual trust, dispelling negative perceptions, and strengthening ties between the military and the civilian population.
The successful conduct of the CMO from the Sea reaffirmed the vital role of the Philippine Navy within and beyond the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The mission clearly demonstrated that the Navy’s responsibilities are not limited to combating insurgency, terrorism, and external threats, but also include engaging in initiatives that uplift communities and foster national development. Civil-military engagements such as the Pata Island Medical Mission not only showcased the interoperability and collaboration between military and civilian sectors, but also underscored the Navy’s unwavering commitment to serve the Filipino people in diverse ways—defending the nation while also providing support, care, and development assistance to vulnerable communities.
In essence, this CMO mission became a tangible expression of the Navy’s dedication to peace, unity, and progress, reinforcing its image as a protector of the people and a partner in nation-building. (Philippine Navy)

The Philippines, United States, and Japan have completed another round of joint maritime drills in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), reaffirming defense cooperation as tensions rise over China’s moves to tighten its grip on contested waters.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the 11th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) was held Sept. 12 to 13 in the waters off Magalawa Island, Palauig to Silanguin Island, San Antonio, Zambales, marking the second such exercise this month alone.
It followed Beijing’s announcement that it intends to establish a marine reserve in Scarborough Shoal, an area well within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Philippine government has filed a diplomatic protest against China’s move in Scarborough Shoal —locally known as Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal.
Philippine assets deployed included the BRP Jose Rizal, four FA-50 fighter jets, a C-208B surveillance aircraft, and helicopters.
The US Indo-Pacific Command sent the USS John Finn, a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and MH-60R helicopters, while Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) deployed the JS Osumi, highlighting amphibious and combined maritime operations.
Exercises covered anti-submarine warfare, interdiction, search and rescue, cross-deck landings, and coordinated naval maneuvers.
The AFP said the activities not only boosted interoperability with allies but also underscored the country’s resolve to defend its maritime entitlements in the WPS under international law. (PNA)

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday formally welcomed the Philippine Navy’s (PN) newest and most advanced guided-missile frigate during an arrival ceremony at the Naval Operating Base Subic in Zambales.
In his speech during the welcoming ceremony, AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the new frigate, soon to be called BRP Diego Silang (FFG-07), is not only a testament to the PN’s growing capability but also a clear signal of the institution’s resolve to strengthen its maritime defense posture.
“BRP Diego Silang is a symbol of our nation’s resolve to defend what is rightfully ours, to stand firm in the face of challenges, and to demonstrate our readiness to safeguard the interests of our people,” Brawner said.
He said the arrival of BRP Diego Silang represents a “leap forward” in the PN’s strength and resolve, reinforcing the nation’s position as a vigilant guardian of its seas and a steadfast protector of its people.
The future BRP Diego Silang, the sister ship of BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06), arrived in the country on Sept. 8 and was welcomed by the PN’s first guided-missile frigate, BRP Jose Rizal (FFG-150).
According to the PN, the soon-to-be BRP Diego Silang will undergo final preparations, acceptance procedures, and commissioning before officially joining its active fleet.
Once it joins the fleet, the PN said BRP Diego Silang will greatly enhance the service’s operational readiness, maritime domain protection, and capability to uphold a free, secure, and rules-based international order.
Like its sister ship, BRP Miguel Malvar, which arrived in the country on April 8 and was commissioned on May 20, BRP Diego Silang weighs 3,200 gross tons, measures 118.4 meters, and has a beam of 14.9 meters.
It also has a range of 4,500 nautical miles and a cruising speed of 15 knots with a maximum of 25 knots.
The ship is equipped with sensors, surveillance systems, and weapons platforms for multi-combat operations, enabling it to track and engage surface, sub-surface, and air threats. (PNA)

USS Ohio (SSGN-726), a U.S. Navy submarine, was assisted by tugboats on its approach to Rivera Pier. The vessel is scheduled to berth alongside the USS Frank Cable (AS-40) for a port visit. (SBNphoto by Vittorio V Vizcocho V)

A U.S. Navy guided-missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles arrived for a port visit to the Philippines last week during its Pacific patrol, the sea service confirmed.
USS Ohio (SSGN-726) arrived Sept. 23 at the former U.S. naval base at Subic Bay and moored alongside submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS-40), according to photos from U.S. 7th Fleet.
Ohio is one four U.S. nuclear ballistic missile submarines that were retrofitted to carry the long-range Tomahawk missiles. The boats can deploy for up to two years at a time alternating between two crews that swap every few months. Last year, USS Florida (SSGN-728) returned from a 727-day deployment. USS Georgia (SSBN-729) deployed in September last year and is believed to be operating in U.S. Central Command. Georgia was part of the Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iran nuclear sites in June.
The Navy is intentional about announcing a region where an SSGN is operating as a signal of U.S. military power.
The revelation Ohio is operating in the South China Sea follows the sea trials of the Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian and the first public launching and landing tests with People’s Liberation Army Navy naval aircraft.
Over the last several months, the U.S. has publicly operated more closely with the Philippines while investing more in the country’s military infrastructure and an expanded U.S. Navy presence at Subic Bay, USNI News has previously reported.
Earlier this year, Ohio traveled to Australia, where it was maintained by Frank Cable for a voyage repair. (USNI News)