PH, US air forces to hold Cope Thunder joint exercise in April 2024

The joint exercise of the Philippine and United States air forces dubbed as Cope Thunder will be conducted in April this year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Wednesday.

“The Philippine Air Force is now preparing for the Cope Thunder Philippines 2024-1 which will be conducted in April,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla Taborlupa said in a press briefing.

“It will feature joint and combined sea, air, and ground exercises between the AFP and US Pacific Air Forces,” she added.

Cope Thunder aims to provide bilateral fighter training with the Philippine and US air forces and improve their combined interoperability.

Last year, the Philippines and the US revived the Cope Thunder joint exercise 33 years after it was stopped in 1991.

It was moved to Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska in 1992 and eventually renamed Red Flag Alaska, the Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs said.

Cope Thunder was moved to Eielson from Clark Air Base in the Philippines in 1992 after the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo forced its operations to stop.

In 1991, the Philippine Senate also rejected the renewal of the US base lease in the country.

Meanwhile, Fajardo said the Philippine Air Force will also receive two T-129 ATAK helicopters and one C-130 tactical transport aircraft in a turnover ceremony in April.

The announcement of the upcoming Cope Thunder activity in April came on the same day that the AFP said the Philippines and the US would conduct Balikatan joint military exercises for the first time outside of the former’s territorial waters. — VDV, GMA Integrated News