The Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) have launched a new round of joint air exercises under 'Cope Thunder Philippines 2025,' highlighting deepening military cooperation between the two allies.
The latest iteration of the drills began Monday at Clark Air Base in Pampanga province with an opening ceremony led by Lieutenant General Arthur M. Cordura of the PAF and Lieutenant Colonel Bryan E. Mussler from PACAF.
Scheduled to run from 7–18 July, the bilateral exercise will take place across northern Luzon, focusing on interoperability, joint tactics and operational coordination.
The Philippine Air Force has deployed 2,301 personnel and a range of aircraft, including FA-50PH jets, A-29B Super Tucanos and several helicopter variants. The U.S. side is contributing 225 personnel and F-35 fighter jets to strengthen joint capabilities.
Training will also include subject matter expert exchanges and field training exercises at key sites, emphasising enhanced readiness and cooperation in real-world scenarios.
The PAF described the exercise as a key milestone in advancing its modernisation goals and promoting regional stability across the Indo-Pacific.
This is the second round of Cope Thunder exercises held this year; the first took place from 8–19 April.
The Philippines is the U.S.’s oldest military ally in the Asia-Pacific. Under a mutual defence treaty, U.S. forces have access to Philippine military bases and regularly conduct joint drills across land, sea and air domains.
Azerbaijan and the UK have pledged to strengthen defence, trade and education cooperation after signing a joint declaration elevating relations to ...
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Friday it had targeted a U.S. early-warning radar system in Bahrain, raising fresh co...
More than 333,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since the beginning of August as fighting has escalated, including more than&nb...
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a stark warning at this year's COP31 summit, saying the climate crisis iss advancing faster than governments' efforts to contain it.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
Azerbaijan and the UK have pledged to strengthen defence, trade and education cooperation after signing a joint declaration elevating relations to a strategic level in Dublin, Ireland on Thursday (12 November).
More than 333,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since the beginning of August as fighting has escalated, including more than 24,000 in the past week alone, the United Nations said on Thursday.
A court in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has sentenced human rights lawyer Maria Bontsler to 12 years in prison on treason charges, after prosecutors accused her of passing sensitive information to Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to double tariffs on Mexico unless it stops more than a thousand migrants who are walking north towards the United States, warning that they will be denied entry.
A gunman shot dead his building’s manager and wounded four other people in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, before barricading himself inside his apartment and taking his own life after a standoff with police, officials said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment