U.S. Army Expanding Presence in the Philippines as China Threat Looms

In the jungles, plains and mountains of Luzon, the U.S. Army is experimenting with 3D-printed drones, missile launchers and new operational maneuvers in a test of their ability to defend the Philippines’ largest island. The drills come amid Manila’s concerns of potential spillover from a cross-strait conflict between Beijing and Taipei reaching Northern Luzon, located just 155 miles south of Taiwan. While the Hawaii-based infantry division, also known by its nickname of “Tropic Lightning,” has frequently deployed to the Southeast Asian nation, the nature of its deployment has evolved amid regional tensions between the Philippines and China in the South