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The largest rendition of Exercise Balikatan has closed out in Manila, with defence members from around the world formally celebrating the multinational activity.
Representatives from Australia, the Philippines, the US, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and France joined together to officially close and celebrate the exercise’s completion, which saw the seven nations work together across three weeks to strengthen “collective readiness”.
Throughout the exercise, nearly 400 Australian Defence Force members participated in a range of activities with allied nations across a range of fields, including coastal defence, weapons handling, medical treatment, cyber defence and missile tactics.
“Balikatan in Tagalog means shoulder to shoulder, and that’s exactly what we’ve done here on this exercise – we’ve been working shoulder to shoulder with many partners, principally the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” said Commander of the Australian Contingent for Exercise Balikatan, Lieutenant Colonel Ben Woolmer.
“By doing that, we establish friendships, and through establishing those friendships we build trust. Trust in each other, trust in each other’s military capabilities, and we learn from each other.”
2026 marks the 41st year that Exercise Balikatan has been active, making it one of the most important and longstanding exercises in the Indo-Pacific.
This year’s variation of the international activity marked the first time a Royal Australian Navy fleet unit participated via HMAS Toowoomba.
“We’ve been part of this exercise since 2014 and we’ve seen it grow over that time,” Chief of the Defence Force, Admiral David Johnston, said.
“In 2026, we’ve had our largest ADF contribution to this exercise and that’s a reflection of the importance of partnerships, and in particular, partnerships in this region.
“We know we are stronger when we are working together.”
Altogether, upwards of 17,000 defence force members from participating nations took part in the exercise, with Canada and New Zealand joining for the first time this year.
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