U.S. Destroyer Drills with Philippine Forces Near Scarborough Shoal
An American destroyer joined Philippine forces near Scarborough Shoal for a joint patrol following the recent departure of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) from the Western Pacific.
USS John Finn (DDG-113) sailed alongside the Philippine Navy frigate BRP Antonio Luna (FF 151) and the Philippine Coast Guard cutter BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV 8301) between Sunday and Monday for naval drills near the disputed South China Sea maritime feature. Fighters, surveillance aircraft and helicopters also participated alongside the vessels in surface warfare exercises and night operations.
The drill was the first of 2026 held between Washington and Manila in the South China Sea, which has been a focus area of the U.S.-Philippine alliance amid a string of increasingly escalatory encounters with Chinese forces against Washington’s longtime treaty ally.
“This iteration highlighted the enduring [Armed Forces of the Philippines-U.S.] alliance and reaffirmed both forces’ shared commitment to strengthening maritime security, enhancing operational interoperability and upholding a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region,” reads a statement from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Philippine state media outlet People’s Television reported the presence of a Chinese Type 054A-class frigate sailing near the formation. The People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command announced their own naval patrols in response to the joint drills, claiming that Manila co-opted foreign powers for “disrupting peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
Scarborough, called Bajo De Masinloc by Manila and Huangyan Dao by Beijing, has been the site of renewed tensions.
In September, China declared plans to make the shoal a national nature reserve, a move that fueled concerns of a possible land reclamation attempt similar to what Beijing previously conducted in the Spratly Islands. Located 120 nautical miles off Luzon, the largest and most populous island of the Southeast Asian country, Philippine military leadership vowed that the country’s forces would not allow China to stake a permanent presence at the shoal.
To alleviate Philippine concerns, the U.S. has maintained a successive CSG presence off Western Luzon since late October. Prior to USS Abraham Lincoln’s (CVN-72) deployment, Washington deployed the Nimitz CSG and dispatched the forward deployed George Washington CSG to the region. Together, the three strike groups upheld a major American naval presence in the South China Sea and near Scarborough Shoal that lasted three months.
However, the Abraham Lincoln CSG was relocated from Indo-Pacific to U.S. Central Command in response to tensions with Iran following President Donald Trump’s demands for Tehran to stand down amid a domestic crackdown.
While the three-month-long carrier presence has been halted, American naval and military posture in support of the Philippines continues with contracted intelligence support, a forward-based Marine Corps Reaper drone unit and persistent P-8 Poseidon flights throughout the South China Sea.
