Speaking to Defense News from the Philippines, Bartholomees confirmed that, as an original Transformation in Contact division, four of his five brigades have changed significantly already. Following his mobile infantry, artillery and sustainment brigades, he revealed the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) is “next on the docket to do some transformation.”

“The Gray Eagle company that was in Alaska is going to move to Hawaii – and what we see over time is, as the Army determines what type of larger-class unmanned aerial systems it uses, that those will land in the CAB.”

The general said longer-range drones “are essential to support the ranges that we can now shoot out to, particularly with HIMARS.”

In fact, 25th ID was the first U.S. infantry division to receive HIMARS, a weapon that greatly extends the formation’s reach compared to incumbent M777 and M119 towed howitzers. Because of HIMARS, Bartholomees pointed out his “division artillery is really what transformed the most.”

He highlighted how the “Tropic Lightning” Division performed a number of HIMARS infiltrations to Luzon Strait islands during recent Philippine wargames. Indeed, Exercises Balikatan and Salaknib allowed 25th ID to test new tactics and technologies from April to June.

The Ranger-qualified general added that the Army wants maximum flexibility in “new technologies, drones, counter-drones, electronic warfare, software-enabled technologies, and less [reliance] on a program of record that, by the time you receive it, is obsolete and you’re stuck with it for too long.”

For example, Bartholomees praised the Infantry Squad Vehicle that makes his soldiers “more lethal, light and mobile.” By increasing the mobility of his two infantry brigades, it helped shed a lot of needless vehicles. “Infantry brigades had too much stuff, too many vehicles, they were too unwieldy,” he said.

Balikatan and Salaknib were valuable to 25th ID because “you don’t really know if [equipment] is going to work until you operate with it in these environments,” Bartholomees explained.

He also highlighted the democratization of electronic-warfare capabilities across units, in addition to the transformation of communication systems. “We’re one of two divisions in the U.S. Army that’s conducting what’s called Next-Generation Command and Control,” he explained. This entails moving to smaller form factors and software-enabled systems.

Pushing new capabilities into frontline units is vital for 25th ID, especially when so far from home in places like the Philippines. “Shipping capability costs really drive forward the need for us to innovate,” he said.

One response has been the Forge, an expeditionary capability that allows soldiers to manufacture spare parts using 3D printing, for example. Bartholomees said the Forge is important “because it’s helping to thicken our sustainment lines by creating capability, creating parts and manufacturing forward where we can”.

He said 25th ID’s fielding of new technologies will continue unabated: “We’re literally transforming all the time,” although “we do have to manage how we do this, and we have to be disciplined in this approach.”

This helps explain why Exercise Balikatan 2026, held in the Philippines from Apr. 20 to May 8, is the largest-ever drill in the series. It features troops from seven countries: the Philippines, United States, Australia, Canada, France, Japan and New Zealand.

The latter four nations have boots on the ground for the first time, marking a significant growth trajectory for Balikatan.

For Clark, who has headed USARPAC since Nov. 8, 2024, this 41st iteration of Balikatan represents a “full-circle event.” As a young 25th Infantry Division company commander, he attended the annual exercise series back in 1994.

The general told Defense News that it really underscores the growth of the relationship over many years. “It’s those touchpoints that allow us to build the relations that are necessary to strengthen our partnerships, because the partnerships are really the secret sauce. We never go into a conflict by ourselves.”

Real-world events

Clark said Balikatan “is an opportunity for us to train in a way [where] you’d simulate the kinds of tasks we’d perform together in combat at the invitation of the Philippine government on their sovereign soil.”

He also acknowledged Balikatan has changed focus over the years. Whereas counterinsurgency and counterterrorism once predominated, now the focus is “large-scale combat operations” and territorial defense. “It’s the willingness of the partner to train on the task that they think that they’re going to have to perform in crisis and conflict,” Clark noted.

Balikatan 2026 therefore featured two distinct counter-landing, live-fire exercises, as well as maritime key terrain seizure operations in far-flung islands in the Luzon Strait that sit south of Taiwan.

These types of operations would be critical to contain the Chinese navy in the event of a conflict over Taiwan. The U.S. military thus rehearsed rapidly moving HIMARS rocket launchers and NMESIS anti-ship missile systems to remote islands, for example.

Clark pointed out: “Everything we can do to build the trust that’s necessary, in times where we’re able to train together prior to any kind of crisis or conflict, is golden.” Further, “Building that kind of trust with one another right now, where we have the confidence in ourselves, our soldiers, our weapons and equipment, our leadership, our tactics – and we’re doing that along with our partners – it’s just invaluable.”

Asked to describe his command focus, Clark replied succinctly, “It’s always the same: it’s people and partnerships so that we can prevail in competition, crisis and conflict.” Balikatan contributes to such purposes, though it is just one of 50-plus exercises that USARPAC conducts annually under its Operation Pathways umbrella.

He said Operation Pathways “changes our mindset in terms of how we think about operationally deploying forces in the theater. … What it is is our ability to set conditions with our partners, allies and the joint force, and conduct rehearsals on key terrain inside the First and Second Island Chains.”

Transformation

One of the command’s assigned divisions is the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division, one of two original Transformation in Contact formations. It is among the vanguard fielding new equipment like M7 rifles, M250 machine guns, drones and Infantry Squad Vehicles, for instance. Clark highlighted that 25th ID is the Army’s only infantry division to possess HIMARS too.

He added that Transformation in Contact also brings industry alongside and gives them direct feedback from soldiers.” The opportunity for soldiers to “take, shake and break” new equipment permits faster iteration.

Clark also noted 25th ID and 4th ID are piloting next-generation, command-and-control suites to enable headquarters to make decisions faster, communicate more securely and grant greater situational awareness.

“What you’re seeing is the Army’s most lethal and technologically advanced mobile infantry formation,” he said.

The Army has three Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTF), two of them in USARPAC. Clark said the next development will be putting these theater-level MDTF capabilities under a two-star multi-domain command. “That then allows us to be more responsive and plug into the higher headquarters of the joint force.”

Clark promised this will make MDTFs more responsive to the needs of combatant force commanders in time and space. The first of these, Multi-Domain Command Pacific, will be the 7th ID, set to be activated at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in June.

Complementary and challenging

Asked whether the Army is simply trying to replicate what the Marine Corps already does, Clark responded: “The Marine Corps, as part of the land power network in the theater, is a great partner, a great teammate, and we work hand in hand with the capabilities that are resident inside of our formations in order to really cause dilemmas for our adversaries.”

As an example of their complementary nature, Marines did not bring an air wing to Balikatan, so it relied upon the Army’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. “What we’re going to try to do is bring the best of both of our capabilities to assist the joint force in the process of solving hard problems,” Clark said.

The Army brings strengths in robust sustainment formations and capabilities, but getting those supplies and sustainment forward in the theater is always challenging. “What we’re trying to do over the course of time is to continue identify places, not bases, where we can forward-locate the sustainment that’s necessary for our teammates to utilize in crises and conflicts,” Clark said. “Setting the theater is one of our primary responsibilities, and we try to do that through campaigning.”

Clark said leveraging new technologies “makes us more lethal, more survivable. If we can see first, sense first, strike first, protect always, sustain as required, then that’s really where we want to focus technology.”

Finishing off the foe’s stubborn resistance, a Kestrel first-person-view (FPV) drone carrying an explosive payload slammed into the enemy bunker. Afterwards, sweating profusely in the 97ºF heat, the Americans and Filipinos secured the area.

This jungle patrol in the thickly vegetated training area of Fort Magsaysay, located 75 miles north of Manila, was just one of many events taking place across the Philippines in Exercise Balikatan 2026.

More than 17,000 troops from seven countries are participating in this multilateral exercise being held from Apr. 20 to May 8.

The major U.S. Army contingent in Balikatan is the 3rd Mobile Brigade of the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division. The soldiers conducting this realistic drill were from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, alongside troops from the Philippine Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team.

This engagement integrating new tech underscored how the “Tropic Lightning” division is transforming and adopting new technologies as one of the Army’s two original Transformation in Contact divisions. It is required to do so by the changing nature of modern warfare.

Col. Adisa King, the 3rd Mobile Brigade commander, told Defense News that technology does help: “It reduces risk a little bit, but it allows you to see farther.”

“The challenge is how do you mass that? What if I had ten of those [drones]?” King asked. “They go up to disrupt or they go up to help me see, and we push them all the way down to lower levels. But sustainment is the issue.”

Indeed, the technology can be fickle, King pointed out: Drones can overheat in the tropical climate, soldiers have to lug extra equipment around, jungles are often too thick for FPVs, and recharging batteries is another challenge.

Yet King listed three things his brigade gains from participating in Balikatan: becoming familiar with an environment the soldiers might one day fight in; learning from partners; and rehearsing how to fight together.

Underscoring their modernization push, these Hawaii-based soldiers were carrying the latest M7 assault rifles, and new M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISV) provided them rapid maneuverability.

Lightning Lab innovation

Elsewhere, Lightning Labs illustrates how the 25th Infantry Division is prioritizing innovation and iteration. This cell was designed to accelerate the adoption of new technologies.

The Kestrel “killer” FPV quadcopter, measuring five inches across and capable of swarming, is one such fruit. CW3 Aaron Dunson, Operations Officer of Lightning Labs, said the Kestrel is designed for mass production. The aim is to get them into the hands of soldiers so they can identify their capabilities and limitations.

Lightning Labs is also developing a high-speed drone interceptor. In addition, the lab was testing a containerized solar-panel micro grid to generate electricity, a quieter alternative to diesel generators. Dunson described it as “a very viable solution” in the Philippines.

He shared that his cell is covering capability gaps while industry races to catch up. “Our piece of this pie is to identify the opportunity and then present it to the subject matter experts within the division and say, ‘Is this usable?’”

Forge ahead

Another innovation appeared last year – the Forge – an INDOPACOM initiative where a dozen Army and Marine personnel run an expeditionary manufacturing capability based at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. It is armed with deployable equipment like industrial-grade 3D printers (polymer and metal), milling machines and 3D scanners.

The Forge comes up with rapid solutions. During Balikatan, for example, a road grader from an engineering unit was disabled due to broken bolts. Instead of waiting ten weeks for spares to arrive from the U.S., the Forge reverse-engineered and manufactured them in six hours.

Likewise, soldiers complained of broken bipods on their new M50 machine guns, so the unit came up with a 3D-printed solution to fix that too.

The Forge’s services have been in demand throughout Balikatan. It had 36 projects on the go, with twelve completed by halfway through the exercise. One of them was producing 300 Kestrel drone frames.

The Forge saves soldiers time and money. CW2 Kevin Ton, officer in charge of the Forge, said it had saved $23,000 and a cumulative 96 months in waiting time for spare parts in the first week of Balikatan alone.

With multiple security challenges in Asia-Pacific – high among them being Chinese belligerence – there is a need for the Army to adapt quickly and to speedily field the latest technologies.

The 25th Infantry Division epitomizes this rapid change that United States Army Pacific is undergoing. Another example is that it is the Army’s only infantry division to possess HIMARS rocket launchers.

“We landed right on the X,” Col. Brian Weightman, commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division, told Defense News during an interview in Townsville.

The commander said he was the first to jump onto the drop zone.

In such a parachute operation, casualties of up to 10% are anticipated, he explained.

“We’re very comfortable with that if we land and 90% of the force is able to continue on,” Weightman said.

Luckily, this nighttime airdrop resulted in only three minor injuries, one of which was caused by a midair parachute entanglement in the dark.

Their 6,800-mile flight was only the beginning of the unit’s simulated joint forcible entry operation. After landing, the paratroopers from the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Regiment – nickname “Three Geronimo” – proceeded to march another 30-plus miles to seize an urban objective located near Townsville in northern Queensland.

“To be able to do that with real violence and at speed is really impressive, and I think it should scare adversaries,” the commander said.

Six C-17A Globemaster III aircraft – four from the U.S. Air Force and two from Australia – transported 323 American and a dozen German paratroopers on the intercontinental flight, while French troops joined the sky train upon their arrival Down Under. The C-17s also dropped heavy equipment such as HMMWVs.

Technological gains

Weightman relayed how he enjoyed continuous communications to higher headquarters with voice, data and video from his aircraft. This high bandwidth is a big deal, as it “gives you a lot better situational awareness and a lot better understanding of what’s going on. You’re able to really paint a much better picture of the enemy.”

Furthermore, “To be able to directly deliver an infantry battalion with its command that is situationally aware and physically optimized onto a drop zone 7,000 miles away, means that you can really go anywhere in the world.”

Asked whether nighttime parachute jumps are more challenging, Weightman responded, “For us it’s not much more. You know, we own the night, so once we get on the drop zone, we have an asymmetric advantage against our adversaries.”

Talisman Sabre is meant to showcase interoperability, which is “easy to talk about but hard to do,” according to the colonel.

Nighttime jumps demonstrate “the highest level of proficiency,” he said.

After refitting in Townsville, more than 400 American paratroopers were to join 100 German and 36 French soldiers to perform another nighttime jump on July 21, this time at Shoalwater Bay in central Queensland.

“This airfield seizure and expanded lodgment is very classic – it’s the bread and butter of the airborne infantry,” Weightman noted.

The 11th Airborne Division possesses two of the U.S. Army’s five airborne brigades: the 1st Brigade is a mobile combat brigade equipped with Infantry Squad Vehicles, while 2nd Brigade is airborne. Asked what his division brings, Weightman highlighted two things – the ability to move anywhere in the Indo-Pacific, and the other is its Arctic mission.

“We’re the only brigades in the world that have the ability to conduct offensive operations in the Arctic,” the commander said. The troops can operate in arctic climates or the subtropics of Australia with equal adeptness.

Defense News asked whether there is still a place for airborne units on modern battlefields. After all, Russia’s airmobile operation at Hostomel Airport at the start of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 ended disastrously.

“I would argue, yes,” Weightman responded. “And as I’m looking from the enemy’s perspective, what we’re able to do would absolutely scare me if I was the enemy of our country.”

The Indo-Pacific region is rife with tensions – China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula – and the 11th Airborne Division is ready to accomplish offensive, defensive, stability or expeditionary operations, said the brigade commander.

Asked about the rising threat from China, Weightman responded, “You know, we’re not training against a specific adversary. What we’re training to do is to be interoperable with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.”

However, he continued, “If we’re able to do that and mass power from anywhere to anywhere at scale, then we should be able to beat any adversary and keep the Indo-Pacific region open.”

The exercise was the eleventh iteration of Talisman Sabre. The drill involved more than 40,000 troops from 19 nations.