Balikatan 2026 features Japan Type 88 strike and first operational Typhon Tomahawk firing in the Philippines
Less than six minutes after launch, Japan’s Type 88 missile slammed into a decommissioned Philippine warship about 75 km off the coast of Ilocos Norte, a dramatic live-fire moment during Balikatan 2026, the South China Morning Post reported. [1]
The exercise also featured a US-made Tomahawk cruise missile fired from an Army Typhon system on Philippine soil, striking a target some 630 km away. [1] The launch marked the first operational firing of the Typhon system in the Philippines since the launcher was deployed there more than two years earlier. [1]
China swiftly condemned Japan’s test firing as Tokyo’s first overseas “offensive missile” launch in eight decades, and described it as evidence of rising “neo-militarism.” [1]
Chris Gardiner, chief executive of the Institute for Regional Security NGO in Canberra, said the exercise was intended to send an unambiguous message. [1] “The message of the exercise is clear,” Gardiner said. [1] “Not today” — now is not the time to use force against the Philippines or to change the status quo around Taiwan. [1]
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Sources (1)
Published May 9, 2026
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