ABOUT 14,000 American and Filipino soldiers will take part in battle-readiness exercises in the Philippines, including live-fire drills, in a large-scale deployment that shows the Trump administration is not scaling back its commitment to help deter aggression in the region, a senior Philippine military official said Tuesday.

The annual joint Balikatan — Filipino for "shoulder-to-shoulder" — exercises between the longtime allies will be held from April 21 to May 9 and involve about 9,000 United States and 5,000 Filipino military personnel. They will involve fighter aircraft, navy ships and an array of weaponry, including a US anti-ship missile system, Brig. Gen. Michael Logico said.

Australia will deploy about 200 military personnel, and Japan and a number of other friendly nations will send smaller military delegations.

China has denounced such war drills in or near the disputed South China Sea and in northern Philippine provinces close to Taiwan, especially those that involve the US and allied forces that Beijing says aim to contain it and consequently threaten regional stability and peace. Logico said the Balikatan exercises were not aimed at any particular country.

Taiwan is the island democracy which China considers its own, to be annexed by force if necessary. China conducted large-scale drills in the waters and airspace around Taiwan this month that included an aircraft carrier battle group as it renewed a warning to Taiwan against seeking formal independence.

US Marine Col. Doug Krugman of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force told reporters most of the joint exercises would be staged within Philippine territory except for multinational sea exercises, which he did not specify.

Trump's "America First" foreign policy thrust has triggered concerns in Asia about the scale and depth of US commitment to maintain a long-standing security presence in the volatile region.

"As you can see, there is no scale back," Logico said during a news briefing. "We're talking about a full battle test."

The comprehensive drills would generally involve a command post issuing orders to field forces in mock battle scenarios, Logico and Krugman said.

The exercises will include aerial surveillance, the use of a barrage of artillery and missile fire to sink a mock enemy ship, deploying a US anti-ship missile system and countering the landing of enemy forces on an island.

The Typhon mid-range missile system, which was deployed to the northern Philippines last year, would be used again in the combat exercises, Logico said, without elaborating. China has repeatedly expressed alarm over the missile deployment and demanded that the Philippines pull out the weaponry from its territory, which it said could spark an arms race.

A Philippine official told The Associated Press early this year that the US Army's mid-range missile system, which consists of a mobile launcher and at least 16 Standard Missile-6 and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, was repositioned from the northern city of Laoag to a strategic area in a western coastal province facing a disputed South China Sea shoal, where Chinese and Philippine coast guard, and navy forces have engaged in tense face-offs.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Manila in March in his first trip to Asia and said the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against China's aggression in the South China Sea.

The US was not gearing up for war, Hegseth said, while underscoring that peace would be won "through strength." He said the US would deploy an anti-ship missile system, called the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, as well as unmanned sea vessels to enable the allied forces to train together to defend Philippine sovereignty during the Balikatan exercises.

Additionally, the allied forces agreed to stage special operations forces training in Batanes province, a cluster of islands in the northernmost tip of the Philippine archipelago across a sea border from Taiwan, he said.

Logico described the upcoming military drill as an air and integrated and missile defense exercise, and said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signified an interest in attending one of the events.

"We briefed President Marcos two weeks ago... and he has given us the green light for the entire exercise, all of the events. And yes, he is very interested in watching one of the events," Logico said during a press conference in Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines will be using FA-50s fighter jets and 155mm artillery and other newly acquired assets from the modernization program in the exercise.

The US Air Force, Krugman said, will field F-16s alongside Marine Corps F-18 fighters that are currently participating in Cope Thunder and MV-22 Ospreys.

Nineteen countries have been invited to observe Balikatan 2025, including Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, who have confirmed participation. The International Observer Program is aimed at enhancing transparency and cooperation with allies and partners, and strengthening regional solidarity.

On Monday, US Sen. John Peter Ricketts lauded the Philippines' leadership in preserving peace and stability in the region, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Rickets (Republican-Nebraska) led the bipartisan US congressional delegation who visited the Philippines on April 14 to discuss ways to strengthen the Philippine-US alliance.

The delegation was also composed of Sens. Christopher Coons (Democratic-Delaware) and Theodore Paul Budd (Republican-North Carolina).

The lawmakers "underscored US support for the historic Philippine-US alliance," the DFA said in a statement on Wednesday.

Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and the delegation discussed opportunities to reinforce Philippine-US defense and security cooperation.