The Armed Forces of the Philippines is gearing up for the upcoming Cope Thunder Exercises 2024-1 with its counterpart in the United States next month.

AFP spokesperson Col. Margareth Francel Padilla said the Philippine Air Force (PAF) will showcase combat drills featuring combined sea, air, and ground military exercises with the US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).

In a phone interview on Thursday, PAF spokesperson Col. Consuelo Castillo said the expanded Cope Thunder Exercises this year are scheduled from 8 to 19 April, with most of the drills being conducted in Northern Luzon, particularly in the Clark Air Base in Mabalacat, Pampanga. 

Castillo clarified the approaching exercises are still part of the existing Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty and it does not poke any provocation with other countries. 

The Cope Thunder will showcase flight aircraft operations of both AFP and US PACAF within the Philippines' territory.  

This year’s schedule is the third iteration of bilateral exercise since it was revived in July last year, 33 years after the first Cope Thunder was executed. 

The first-ever Cope Thunder exercise was held in 1976 and provided regular flight training for US pilots and their counterparts from allied nations. 

The US-Philippines cope thunder training was continued annually until 1990. 

It was halted in 1991 after Mt. Pinatubo erupted in June of that year, which led to the closure of US military bases in Clark and Subic Bay.