Australia, the Philippines and the United States conduct Maritime Cooperative Activity

Australia, the Philippines and the United States have conducted a multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Royal Australian Navy’s guided-missile destroyer HMAS Sydney participated in this MCA with the Philippine Navy’s guided missile frigate BRP Antonio Luna and aircraft from the Philippines and the United States.

The MCA demonstrates our collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. It builds mutual understanding and interoperability between nations and armed forces.

Australia and our partners share a commitment to upholding the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, other lawful uses of the sea and international airspace, and other maritime rights under international law, particularly in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

By training and operating together, forces can build upon shared tactics, techniques, and procedures to enhance interoperability and readiness to respond to shared security challenges.

This is the second MCA involving the Australian Defence Force this year, following HMAS Hobart’s participation in a multilateral MCA on 6 February with Japan, the Philippines and the United States.

HMAS Sydney’s participation in this MCA comes as part of its three-month Regional Presence Deployment, which began in early April. 

Regional Presence Deployments demonstrate Australia’s commitment and ability to maintain a near-continuous presence in the Indo-Pacific region to support regional peace, security and stability.

Media note:
Imagery of this activity is available from https://images.defence.gov.au/S20251048