Japanese troops fired two Type-88 surface-to-ship missiles from the coast of northwestern Luzon on May 5, sinking a decommissioned Philippine Navy corvette that had once fought against Japan in the Pacific War. The missiles, fired from Culili Point in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, struck the BRP Quezon (PS-70) approximately 50 miles offshore, sending the 82-year-old vessel to the bottom of the South China Sea. The ship, which as USS Vigilance had conducted anti-submarine patrols near Okinawa, was sent to the bottom by the nation she once helped defeat. The live-fire was the centerpiece of this year’s Balikatan exercise, the annual joint military drill between the Philippines and the United States, which runs through May 8.
U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Pruett
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