It’s no secret China and the Philippines are at odds over who should control parts of the South China Sea, or West Philippine Sea as it’s also known. What was a secret, was the fact the United States has a forward-deployed task force in the Philippines.
According to the U.S. Naval Institute, it’s called Task Force Ayungin, and it’s named after what Filipinos call the Second Thomas Shoal. The shoal is located in what are known as the Spratly Islands — which are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.
Straight Arrow News has reported on EEZs and the complexities in the region numerous times. So, for a full background, be sure to check out our archives.
Because the shoal is within the Philippines’ EEZ, Manila should have sovereignty over these waters. But over the years, China has continuously challenged that sovereignty.
So, the Philippines Navy grounded an old ship called the Sierra Madre on the shoal, and Filipino marines use it as a semipermanent outpost. It’s the resupply missions and general maritime operations in the region that Task Force Ayungin is supporting.
Specifically, the task force is teaching their Filipino counterparts how to integrate unmanned maritime drones into their operations. It was actually during a demonstration of these new capabilities to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that the existence of the task force was revealed.
The Philippines reportedly have at least four MANTAS T-12s. The MANTAS, or Man-Portable Tactical Autonomous System, is an unmanned surface vessel. It’s used mostly for gathering intelligence — both visual and signal. The MANTAS can also perform electronic warfare and counter-mine missions.
The Philippines also has at least one T-38 Devil Ray. It looks like a typical speed boat. Devil Rays can be used as a mother ship of sorts to help relay signals to the T-12s. They can also be used as a weapons platform as demonstrated by the U.S. Navy last year during its Digital Talon exercises.
The Philippine national security adviser said Task Force Ayungin is only serving in a support role, and that all resupply missions to the Sierra Madre are purely Filipino operations.
And while the existence of the task force wasn’t revealed until recently, the U.S. makes no effort to hide its overall support of the Philippines to stand against Chinese aggression.
The Army and Marines both have high-end intelligence-gathering drones operating in the region, and U.S. forces often train shoulder-to-shoulder with Filipino forces in numerous defensive exercises.
