PH, US naval exercises set on June 22

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MANILA — The Philippines and the United States’ naval exercises under the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) is set to begin on Monday, June 22.

The bilateral maritime exercise will be held in east of Palawan, according to Lt.

 Liezel Vidallon, Philippine Fleet public affairs officer, in a report by Cynthia Balana for the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The Carat is aimed at improving both the navies’ combined capabilities in various operations, surface warfare and modern naval warfare.

“It’s just an annual bilateral training conducted to enhance interoperability between the two parties,” she said.

It will include Helo Crash and Salvage Drill, P3-Orion surveillance plane flight near the disputed waters, training aboard USS Fort Worth like deck landing qualification, gunnery exercise at sea, visit board, search and seizure and weapon system.

Vidallon, however, clarified that they will not be conducting the exercise on the disputed island.