JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- Cope Thunder - Philippines 23-1, a Pacific Air Forces-sponsored exercise, is scheduled to begin May 1 with primary flight operations over Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, and is scheduled to run through May 12. Cope Thunder Philippines is designed to provide bilateral fighter training with the Philippine Air Force and improve combined interoperability.
Approximately 160 USAF service members are expected to fly, maintain and support more than 12 aircraft from the 35 Fighter Wing, Misawa Air Base, Japan units during this iteration of the exercise. Service members from the Armed Force of the Philippines will exchange tactics, techniques and procedures while improving interoperability.
Cope Thunder began in the Philippines in 1976. It was moved to Eielson Air Force Base in 1992, and eventually renamed Red Flag Alaska. (For 23-1) This is the first iteration of Cope Thunder in the Philippines since 1990. It provides a unique opportunity to integrate forces and improve interoperability between the Philippines and the United States.