The Philippine Navy and United States Navy held a live-fire gunnery exercise (GUNNEX) on Friday, April 25, off the coast of San Felipe, Zambales, as part of the Multilateral Maritime Event (MME) under Balikatan 2025.
According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the exercise was successfully conducted 21 nautical miles from shore and involved live-fire training with .50 caliber guns. Participating Philippine vessels included the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, BRP Conrado Yap, and the BRP Gabriela Silang from the Philippine Coast Guard.
The US Navy joined the exercise with two of its ships: the USS Savannah and the USS Comstock.
The AFP emphasized that the GUNNEX helped both forces sharpen naval surface warfare tactics, improve communication interoperability, and enhance maritime domain awareness in the West Philippine Sea.
The broader Balikatan 2025 exercises, launched on April 21, are scheduled to last three weeks. The MME component, which began on April 24, will continue until April 29.