LAOAG CITY — U.S. and allied forces practiced repelling an amphibious assault during the 41st annual Balikatan military exercises on Luzon, the Philippines' largest island. The drills, whose name means "shoulder to shoulder" in Tagalog, concluded on Friday after nearly three weeks.

More than 17,000 troops from the United States, the Philippines, Japan, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand participated in the exercises, which took place near Taiwan and the South China Sea. China condemned the drills as destabilizing for the region and sent its own naval task force to conduct live-fire drills east of Luzon.

Gen. Ronald Clark, commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, described the focus of the training. "It's really about 'see, sense, strike and protect,'" he said. "We want to see the enemy first."

Clark said the operation was defensive in nature. "It's not about escalation. It's really about deterrence," he said. "What you're looking at on this beachhead is a defense in depth. It's not an offensive operation."

Lt. Gen. Aristotle Gonzalez, head of the Philippine Armed Forces' Northern Luzon Command, told reporters at the exercises that the country's military posture was changing. "The Philippine Army is now transitioning from its usual focus on internal security," he said. "It's good to have the U.S. Army coming in, so that we can also learn and, as we acquire new capabilities, to employ these capabilities effectively."

Japan sent combat troops to the Balikatan exercises for the first time, replacing observers who participated last year. Japanese troops fired an anti-ship missile at a decommissioned Philippine corvette during the drills, marking the first time they did so in the Philippines. Japanese combat troops last landed in the Philippines in 1941, when imperial army soldiers landed about 50 miles south in Vigan City three days after attacking Pearl Harbor. A Japan-Philippines agreement that took effect last year allows joint military training in each other's countries.

U.S. troops also used the Typhon system for the first time in the Philippines to fire a Tomahawk cruise missile during the drills. The missile was fired from a civilian airport carrying a dummy warhead and landed on a military reservation. The U.S. has deployed Typhon missile systems in the Philippines capable of striking targets on China's mainland. China warned last year that it would not sit idly by in response to the threat posed by the Typhon missiles, and accused the Philippines of reneging on a promise to withdraw the system after the 2024 Balikatan drills, a promise that Manila denies making.

Anna Malindog-Uy, secretary-general of the Association for Philippines-China Understanding, raised concerns about the deployment. "Yes, Typhon may enhance deterrence, but it also raises the Philippines' exposure to great-power conflict," she said. "This creates risks of entanglement, escalation and loss of strategic autonomy." Malindog-Uy said the Philippine government should explain to its citizens how it plans to use the Typhon missiles and how it will protect them if they become targets.