Manila, The Philippines, the United States, and France successfully completed the first multilateral maritime exercise, as part of this years "Balikatan" maneuvers, with all four participating vessels able to complete the activity without any untoward incident. The drills which began on April 25 witnessed active participation of vessels belonging to the Philippine, French and US navies. About 17,000 Filipino and US soldiers are taking part in the three-week "Balikatan" maneuvers, which run until May 10. Last year, the United States and the Philippines completed one of their largest joint military drills that took place in the South China Sea, in which there was a launching of a barrage of missiles towards a mock enemy warship. Source: Qatar News Agency