South China Sea: US-Philippine forces fire rockets towards disputed waters, insist drill not meant to be provocation

The rockets were launched around 2pm Thursday as part of a live fire drill conducted near the coastal village of Campong Ulay in Palawan, an island facing the South China Sea.

They were fired from two M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, a light multiple rocket launcher capable of hitting targets as far as 80 kilometres (49.7 miles) away.

Filipino Army Brigadier General Romulo Quemade II was quick to defend conducting the live fire drills near an area of the South China Sea where Beijing and Manila have engaged in numerous maritime skirmishes over territorial rights to the disputed waters.

“We are simulating a threat coming from the sea to our shorelines so we are using our multi-domain capabilities to defend our sovereignty,” he told reporters.

“This is quite a distance and we are only firing within our maritime zones and our territory,” he added.

On April 22, more than 16,000 troops from the US and 5,000 from the Philippines, as well as Australian and French armed forces, came together for the start of the annual Balikatan exercises. For the first time, some of this year’s exercises are taking place beyond the 12 nautical-mile boundary of the Philippines’ territorial waters. The exercises will run until May 8.

Brigadier General Bernard Harrington, commander of the US Army’s 1st Multi Domain task force, told reporters after the live fire exercise, which also included artillery, machine guns and Javelin anti-tank missiles, that it was not targeted at any specific adversary.

When asked by reporters if China would react to the rocket launch since the drill was carried out facing the South China Sea, Harrington said, “As we work very closely with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, everything that we are doing is within