Ruptly
"The Armed Forces of the Philippines, in coordination with the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and the Australian Defence Force (ADF), concluded the 16th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA). The four-day exercise, which began on April 9 and finished on April 12 featured a robust assembly of naval and air assets. "This 16th MMCA is very important to us. Primarily the purpose of this exercise is for us to ensure interoperability, cooperation and, most importantly, cohesion among participating units," said Christopher Neil Calvo, Philippine Navy Commander of the BRP Rajah Sulayman patrol vessel. The Philippines deployed its newest offshore patrol vessel, BRP Rajah Sulayman (PS20), supported by the Coast Guard’s BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV 9702) and a suite of Air Force assets, including FA-50 fighter jets and Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano aircraft. A key highlight of the drills was the successful execution of an actual logistics interoperability mission. The USS Ashland (LSD-48) transported four critical assets from the Naval Combat Engineering Brigade - including a telescopic crane and concrete mixers - from Manila Bay to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. "Australia is among, I think, the more advanced navies in our region. We could learn and emulate, especially at the tactical level, for us to be able to ensure that in the future, our vessels like this could seamlessly interoperate with them as we do similar exercises," Neil Calvo added. During the manoeuvres, several vessels from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) were observed monitoring the activity from the vicinity. Despite the external monitoring, the MMCA reportedly proceeded as planned, completing a comprehensive list of serials, including replenishment at sea (RASAP), maritime domain awareness (MDA) activities, and night steaming in company."
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