The United States and Philippine Air Forces are set to train its fighter aircraft in Northern Luzon as part of this year's Cope Thunder exercise that will be held next month.

Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo, Philippine Air Force spokesperson, said the exercise that will be participated by the personnel from the 5th Fighter Wing, will be held from April 8 to 19.

"There will be subject matter exchanges... it also has classroom instructions, subject matter expert exchanges, exchanges of best practices in maintenance then it also has flight operations," she said.

Castillo said Cope Thunder which are among the activities under the mutual defense board and security engagement board aims "to expand the capability of the Philippine Air Force to host and join international exercises, increase our interoperability between the PAF and (Pacific Air Force) PACAF and of course improve our logistics capability."

"The venue will be within Northern Luzon. Most of the activities will happen in Clark Air Base in Mabalacat City, Pampanga," she said.

According to Pacific Air Force (PACAF) public affairs, "Cope Thunder Philippines is designed to provide bilateral fighter training with the Philippine Air Force and improve combined interoperability."

The Cope Thunder held in April of previous year was 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," PACAF said. Robina Asido/DMS