US, PH fighter planes conduct joint patrol
UNITED States and Philippine fighter aircraft staged a joint patrol and training Tuesday over a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese fighter jets fired flares last year to drive away a Philippine aircraft, Philippine officials said. "US Pacific Air Force or Pacaf will conduct a bilateral bomber air patrol, air intercept training, and photo exercise over the West Philippine Sea," Philippine Air Force (PAF) spokesman Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said in a press briefing. "This exercise is a crucial step in enhancing our interoperability, improving air domain awareness and agile combat employment, and supporting our shared bilateral objectives," she added. Castillo said that involved in the drill were two Philippine FA-50 fighter aircraft and two American B1-B bombers. She added that the joint air patrol was a regular training and had nothing to do with the recent tension in the area. "This cooperative effort falls under the framework of the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board activities between the Philippines and the United States specifically addressing bilateral air activities and joint air patrols," Castillo said. The joint patrol and air-intercept drills over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines were the first by the longtime treaty allies since US President Donald Trump took office again. Trump's "America First" foreign policy thrust has sparked concerns among Washington's allies in Asia about the scale and depth of US commitment to the region in his new term. His predecessor, Joe Biden, had moved to strengthen an arc of security alliances in the region to counter China's increasingly assertive actions. In August last year, two Chinese Air Force aircraft flew close and then fired flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force plane on routine patrol over the Scarborough Shoal in actions that were strongly condemned and protested by the Philippine government, military officials said. All those aboard the Philippine Air Force NC-212i turboprop transport plane were unharmed, the Philippine military said. The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army said then that a Philippine Air Force aircraft "illegally" entered the airspace above the shoal and disrupted training activities by Chinese forces. It warned the Philippines to "stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up." The Philippine military chief, Gen. Romeo Brawner, said at the time that the incident "posed a threat to Philippine Air Force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation." China and the Philippines have had increasingly alarming faceoffs in the shoal, called Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines and Huangyan Island by China. "We are always prepared for any contingency; it's part of the training," Castillo said when asked if the allied forces had prepared to address any challenge by Chinese aircraft. "It already happened before and, as I have said, whatever the coercive, aggressive actions of any foreign party, the Philippine Air Force will not be deterred from performing its mandate," Castillo said. The US military has reported encountering such dangerous maneuvers by Chinese air force planes in the past over the disputed waters, where it has deployed fighter jets and navy ships to promote freedom of navigation and overflight. China has bristled at US military deployments in the disputed region, saying these have endangered regional security. Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage, a key global trade and security route, but hostilities have particularly flared in the past two years between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough Shoal and another fiercely contested atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal. Washington has repeatedly warned that it's obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
UNITED States and Philippine fighter aircraft staged a joint patrol and training Tuesday over a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese fighter jets fired flares last year to drive away a Philippine aircraft, Philippine officials said.
"US Pacific Air Force or Pacaf will conduct a bilateral bomber air patrol, air intercept training, and photo exercise over the West Philippine Sea," Philippine Air Force (PAF) spokesman Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said in a press briefing.
"This exercise is a crucial step in enhancing our interoperability, improving air domain awareness and agile combat employment, and supporting our shared bilateral objectives," she added.
Castillo said that involved in the drill were two Philippine FA-50 fighter aircraft and two American B1-B bombers.
She added that the joint air patrol was a regular training and had nothing to do with the recent tension in the area.
"This cooperative effort falls under the framework of the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board activities between the Philippines and the United States specifically addressing bilateral air activities and joint air patrols," Castillo said.
The joint patrol and air-intercept drills over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines were the first by the longtime treaty allies since US President Donald Trump took office again.
Trump's "America First" foreign policy thrust has sparked concerns among Washington's allies in Asia about the scale and depth of US commitment to the region in his new term. His predecessor, Joe Biden, had moved to strengthen an arc of security alliances in the region to counter China's increasingly assertive actions.
In August last year, two Chinese Air Force aircraft flew close and then fired flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force plane on routine patrol over the Scarborough Shoal in actions that were strongly condemned and protested by the Philippine government, military officials said.
All those aboard the Philippine Air Force NC-212i turboprop transport plane were unharmed, the Philippine military said.
The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army said then that a Philippine Air Force aircraft "illegally" entered the airspace above the shoal and disrupted training activities by Chinese forces. It warned the Philippines to "stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up."
The Philippine military chief, Gen. Romeo Brawner, said at the time that the incident "posed a threat to Philippine Air Force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation."
China and the Philippines have had increasingly alarming faceoffs in the shoal, called Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines and Huangyan Island by China.
"We are always prepared for any contingency; it's part of the training," Castillo said when asked if the allied forces had prepared to address any challenge by Chinese aircraft.
"It already happened before and, as I have said, whatever the coercive, aggressive actions of any foreign party, the Philippine Air Force will not be deterred from performing its mandate," Castillo said.
The US military has reported encountering such dangerous maneuvers by Chinese air force planes in the past over the disputed waters, where it has deployed fighter jets and navy ships to promote freedom of navigation and overflight.
China has bristled at US military deployments in the disputed region, saying these have endangered regional security.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage, a key global trade and security route, but hostilities have particularly flared in the past two years between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough Shoal and another fiercely contested atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it's obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
