Philippines, US air forces back together for Cope Thunder

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the US Pacific Air Force (PACAF) are set to embark on joint exercises – involving their advanced fighter jets – from April 8 to 19 for this year’s iteration of Cope Thunder, an annual air defense and offense training event to be held in Luzon.

Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo, PAF public affairs office chief, said Cope Thunder 2024 is part of the Mutual Defense Board and Security Engagement Board activities for 2024.

She told reporters the primary goal of the joint drills is to expand the capability of the PAF to join or even host international exercises as well “increase interoperability between the PAF and PACAF and of course improve our logistics capability.”

The venues for the exercises would be in Northern Luzon and at Clark Air Base in Mabalacat in Pampanga, she said.

Apart from actual flight exercises, Cope Thunder activities would also involve subject matter expert exchanges, classroom instructions, and exchange of best practices in maintenance, she said.

Castillo said details like the number of PAF aircraft to join Cope Thunder are still being finalized, but personnel from the 5th Fighter Wing would definitely be participating in the exercise, which resumed only last year or decades after being shelved.

Organized in 1976, Cope Thunder was discontinued in 1991 after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption ravaged a large part of Luzon including Clark Air Base, then a US military facility. The following year, the US eventually left its military bases in the Philippines after the Senate voted to abrogate the country’s military bases agreement with the US.

Cope Thunder was revived last year – held in two phases in May and July, in various locations across the country.

Balikatan exercise, a broader Philippine-US joint maneuver, is set for the last week of April until early May, to include all major services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is meeting in Tokyo with his counterparts from the Philippines and Japan to discuss preparations for the first-ever summit of the leaders of three countries in Washington on April 11. No date has been revealed yet for the pre-summit meeting.

The White announced early this week the first trilateral US-Japan-Philippines leaders’ summit as well as President Joe Biden’s one-on-one meeting with President Marcos on April 11. The announcement coincided with Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Manila visit on Tuesday.

“The Deputy Secretary will also meet with his Japanese and Philippine counterparts to deepen trilateral cooperation towards a free and open, connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure Indo-Pacific,” the State Department said.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano, and Campbell will discuss the arrangements and agenda for the trilateral summit. - Pia Lee-Brago