HMS Spey completes freedom of navigation exercise around Spratly Islands en route to Manila
A Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel has completed a freedom of navigation around the disputed Spratly Islands en route to Manila.
HMS Spey, one of the Navy's five River-class vessels, is in Manila to showcase the increasing defence engagement between the Philippines and the UK and demonstrate the UK's support for a rules-based international order.
Under international law, vessels can sail through a country's exclusive economic zone without having to tell the country that claims the seas of the military activity, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
The ship's journey coincided with a US, Philippines and Japanese exercise, Balikatan 2026, during which the trio conducted several defensive-line and dry-fire exercises in the Philippines.
South China Sea
With the world distracted by other events such as the Iran war and activities in the High North, the South China Sea has slipped from focus.
Operation Epic Fury has continued as US president Donald Trump has "paused" Project Freedom "for a short period".
Project Freedom is a Washington policy to aid ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important shipping lanes, after the UK Maritime Trade Operations warned of an impending humanitarian crisis impacting upwards of 20,000 sailors holed up in the Middle East.
While, in the High North, the UK will deploy a Carrier Strike Group under Operation Firecrest to the North Atlantic, led by the Royal Navy's flagship, HMS Prince of Wales.
The South China Sea remains a highly contested region as China tries to push its claim to various islands off its coast, including the Spratly Islands.
US and the Philippines exercise
Exercise Balikatan 2026, which also involved Australian troops, has been working on air and missile defence and long-range maritime air assaults, the US Army has said.
1st Battalion, 51st Air Defence Artillery Regiment and 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defence Artillery Regiment, with US Marines from the 2nd Littoral Anti-Air Battalion and the 12th Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, trained with the Philippine air force and the Japanese air self-defence force to show and pass on knowledge about counter-uncrewed air systems.
"For the first time, the US military fired assets operated on the southernmost island in Palawan, extending our reach across the Balabac Strait towards the South China Sea," US Army secretary Dan Driscoll said in a post on X.
"This is how the US Army strengthens regional deterrence and builds global readiness."
Ex Balikatan is an annual exercise between the Philippines' armed forces and the US military that shows the strength of the alliance between Washington and Manila, improves the combined force and showcases the US's commitment to regional peace and prosperity.
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