PAOAY, Ilocos Norte — Japanese forces for the first time fired its Type 88 surface-to-ship missile (SSM-1) in the Philippines - a highlight of the Joint Task Force Maritime Strike (Marstrike) activity held off the coast of Paoay, Ilocos Norte on Wednesday (May 6) as part of Exercise Balikatan 41-2026.
Together with the Philippines, United States and Canada, the allied forces simultaneously struck and sunk decommissioned Philippine Navy ship BRP Quezon (PS70) simulated as a enemy vessel during the Marstrike - a coordinated military operation designed to detect, track, and destroy enemy warships or coastal targets using combined air, land, and sea assets.
The Type 88 missile, a truck-mounted, land-based anti-ship cruise missile with an operational range of approximately 180 - 200 kilometers, released two warheads launched in two minute intervals.
According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (APF), the warheads reached the target situated 75 kilometers from the launch point in only six minutes.
All participating nations deployed capabilities that simultaneously struck the target vessel to sink it.
The Philippine Navy (PN) deployed two frigates (medium-sized warships): the BRP Miguel Malvar and BRP Antonio Luna whereas the Philippine Air Force brought the Super Tucanos (light attack and counter-insurgency aircraft) and the FA-50 fighter jets.
The US showcased the Boeing P-8A Poseidon (multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft), the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) and Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) positioned in strategic launch points.
Canada meanwhile brought the HMCS Charlottetown (FFH 339) Halifax-class frigate.
The exercises will continue on Thursday with BRP Magat Salamat (PS-20), decommissioned in 2021, as the target.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi witnessed the activity while President Ferdinand Marcos monitored from AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.
