The U.S. and the Philippines will start their flagship annual military drills Monday, touted as a “rehearsal” for the defense of the nation amid ongoing tensions with China.

Billed as the “Super Bowl” of exercises in the region, this year’s drills will also show that the Trump administration is intent on keeping Washington’s military support for its long-time ally as it faces growing pressure from Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea.

An estimated 14,000 troops, including 9,000 from the U.S., are set to participate in drills that will be staged in western and northern Philippine locations facing the South China Sea and Taiwan, considered as regional flashpoints.

The allies’ defense partners, Australia and Japan, are also expected to participate, while over a dozen other countries were invited to observe the exercises that run through May 9 — called Balikatan — a Filipino word that translates as shoulder-to-shoulder.

Manila is “treating the exercise as a rehearsal for our defense,” Philippine Brigadier General Michael Logico, director for the drills, told reporters last week. Asked about a potential adverse reaction from China, Logico said: “When we plan out our exercises, we are agnostic to whatever reactions other countries may have.”

Beijing claims nearly the entire South China Sea — an assertion that Manila rejects because it has its own claims in the resource-rich waterway. China also sees self-governing Taiwan as a renegade province and held military drills around the island recently.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced during his visit to Manila last month that the U.S. would be deploying the NMESIS anti-ship missile system for this year’s drills, which will cover air and missile defense — a new feature in the war games.

The planned exercise builds on previous drills, “signaling continuity with the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, both of which defined China as the greatest threat to the United States,” said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.

The drills are happening as China’s trade war with the U.S. intensifies. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in an interview this month that Manila expects a sustained $500 million in annual defense funding from Washington through 2029 to boost its military capabilities and deter China’s “aggression” in the region.

“This is the Super Bowl of all exercises in this part of the region,” Logico said.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.