SAN ANTONIO, Philippines/KUALA LUMPUR -- Clad in a bomber jacket, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. climbed into the cabin of a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) for a briefing on the American launcher's lethal capabilities.
Later, from an observation tower, he peered into binoculars as another HIMARS fired six rockets at a decommissioned corvette in waters facing the South China Sea, where the Philippines and China are embroiled in a long-standing maritime dispute. The rockets missed, but U.S. and Philippine airstrikes sunk the ship.
