As part of the operations carried out during the Combined Exercise Cope Thunder 25-2, F-35A fighters from the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) trained alongside KAI FA-50 light fighters of the Philippine Air Force (PAF). The activities took place over the past several days at Clark Air Base, aiming to strengthen interoperability between U.S. and Philippine military forces and support the training and development of aviators from the Southeast Asian country.
Held for years, Cope Thunder is an exercise that brings together personnel and assets from the United States and the Philippines. This edition stood out for several new elements, framed within the rising tensions in the South China Sea. Unlike previous editions, which featured F-22 Raptor stealth fighters, this iteration was marked by the deployment of a detachment of F-35A Lightning IIs to the Philippines—a milestone in the defense relationship between both nations.
During the training sessions, exercises included electronic warfare missions, air-to-air combat operations, and tactical formations, leveraging the technological capabilities of the U.S. Air Force’s F-35As and the Philippine FA-50s. In this context, these exchanges aimed to enhance joint capabilities and advance the integration of combat procedures, communications, and operations in environments contested by air defense systems and electronic warfare.
It is worth noting that Cope Thunder was originally established in the Philippines in 1976 as an exercise to provide aircrews with realistic combat training scenarios. By 1992, the training was moved to Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, where it was renamed Red Flag Alaska. However, in 2023, the exercise returned to Philippine soil under its original name, as part of a renewed forward presence strategy in the Indo-Pacific by the United States and its allies. This return not only involved logistical adjustments but also symbolized the growing geostrategic importance of the Philippines as a key point within the First Island Chain.
An example of this was the 2024 edition of Cope Thunder, when six F-22 fighters from the 27th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron arrived at Basa Air Base in the Philippines, as part of their final stop after visiting Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines in a show of deterrent power focused on the South China Sea.
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