SINGAPORE, March 22 – Exercise Cope Tiger, a trilateral air exercise conducted by Singapore, Thailand and the United States, ended Friday at Korat Air Base, Thailand. The closing ceremony was officiated by Singapore’s Chief of Air Force
(Designate), Brigadier-General Hoo Cher Mou, along with Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong, and Commander of the Pacific Air Forces, General Herbert J. Carlisle, said a statement from the
Ministry of Defence here.
The exercise, the 19th in its series, was conducted in two phases. The first phase was a command post exercise, held at the Multinational Operations and Exercises Centre in Changi Naval Base, Singapore, from Dec 11 to 13, 2012, while the second phase was a flying training exercise, conducted at Korat Air Base from March 11 to 22, 2013.
This year’s exercise saw the deployment of about 80 aircraft, 36 ground-based air defence systems, and more than 2,000 personnel from the participating nations. The Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) Surface-to-air PYthon-5 and DERby (SPYDER) ground-based air defence system also participated in Exercise
Cope Tiger for the first time.
The participants also provided basic health and dental services to the local community in the vicinity of Korat Air Base and Chandy Range as part of a two-day joint socio-civic programme. Sharing his views on the importance of the trilateral air exercise, RSAF Air Director for Exercise Cope Tiger 2013, Colonel (COL) Benedict Ang said:
“We are pleased to train and operate alongside our counterparts from Thailand and the United States in Exercise Cope Tiger.
More importantly, the friendship that has developed through this trilateral exercise serves to enhance the defence relationship and interoperability of the three participating nations,” said Ang.
Conducted since 1994, Exercise Cope Tiger seeks to enhance professionalism and interoperability among the participating forces, and promote closer rapport and mutual understanding among their personnel.
BERNAMA
