The Philippine Navy sank a decommissioned tanker in the South China Sea with an anti-ship cruise missile during Balikatan 2024’s climactic maritime strike exercise on Wednesday morning.
BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), the flagship of the Philippine Navy, fired a C-Star anti-ship cruise missile at the decommissioned tanker BRP Lake Caliraya (AF-81). Donated to the Armed Forces of the Philippines by the Philippine National Oil Corporation in 2014 for underway replenishment duties, the Chinese-built tanker was decommissioned in 2020 due to maintenance issues.