F-35 stealth fighter jets join Cope Thunder drills over West PH Sea

Courtesy of the Philippine Air Force

PAMPANGA — The Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) kicked off the second iteration of Exercise Cope Thunder 2025 at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga on Monday.

The bilateral military exercise brings together more than 2,500 personnel—2,300 from the PAF and 225 from the PACAF.

“This 25-02 is a progressive form of exercise from the 25-01 because it involves a greater number of PAF personnel and it will form part of a more realistic practice to prepare us for bigger security challenges together with our allied partners,” Col. Jonathan de Leon, Cope Thunder - PAF Exercise Director, told reporters in an interview during the opening ceremony.

Five types of aircraft—the FA-50 lead-in trainer fighters, A-29B Super Tucanos, Agusta Westland 109, S-Huey and S-70i Black Hawk helicopters—will be utilized by the PAF.

Meanwhile, the PACAF deployed its F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets, a first in the exercise.

The F-35 is one of the most advanced, versatile, and lethal fighter jets in the world.

“We are fifth generation instead of fourth. We bring some capabilities to be able to operate more freely. It is the next generation of fighter. It is made for more offensive counter air and interdiction purpose,” Lt. Col. Bryan Mussler, Commander of the PACAF’s 421st Fighter Squadron, said.

“The primary difference between it and the F-16, they don’t have much impact in our operations or how we will integrate. Tactically speaking, very, very similar. We integrate in the same way; we participate in the same force structure as our counterparts,” he added.

Mussler said that while the F-35 brings a number of advanced capabilities, including sophisticated sensors, the core of Cope Thunder lies not just in the technology, but in people and partnership.

“Our participation in the exercise has far less to do with the capability of the aircraft and far more to do with the people involved. The F-35 is the cornerstone of the US forces and we have a strong relationship with the PAF. We look forward to strengthening the alliance and continuing to integrate,” Mussler noted.

He went on, “The reason we were chosen is to give another unit the opportunity to integrate with our partners out here.”

For the PAF, the presence of the F-35s is notable as its inclusion in the exercise opens more opportunities for capability exposure and training.

“We have here the fifth generation aircraft, the F-35. Mas maganda ang impact niya sa atin sa training. This is a great opportunity for us to enhance interoperability, coordination and operational effectiveness as we face prevailing challenges dito sa region,” De Leon said.

“The significance of this is the PAF will be exposed to this type of aircraft,” he continued.

The Filipino and American pilots will conduct basic fighter maneuvers, low-altitude training, offensive counter-air drills, and close support integration during the exercise.

The drills will be held in the West Philippine Sea over the next two weeks.

“Our preparation is very rigid… We are excited to have this exercise to have interoperability with other nations, especially the US,” PAF pilot Major Stewart Mancera said.

“We’re hoping to learn so much from the exercise, just like in 25-01 and Balikatan,” another PAF pilot, Major Felix Nathaniel Sanchez, added.

PACAF pilot Major Ryan McCooey also acknowledged the value of the exercise for adapting to the unique Philippine environment.

“Being able to talk to each other on the ground before coming up with a good game plan and being able to execute it airborne in close cooperation is super important in our alliance,” he said. “We’ve also prepared some academic exchange with the FA-50 pilots to kind of show them how we operate in those mission sets. We can learn from them based on the local environment out here.”

The first iteration of Cope Thunder 2025 was held in April.

Cope Thunder began in the Philippines in 1976 and went on until 1990.

The program was suspended following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo and the closure of US military bases in the country in 1991.

The joint exercise was revived in 2023.