Approximately 100 service members of the US Air Force’s 8th Fighter Wing aretraining alongside Indonesian Air Force personnel in the field trainingexercise, the US Embassy in Jakarta announced in a statement released on June13.
As many as six US Air Force F-16s and seven Indonesian Air Force aircraft areparticipating in this year’s exercise.
The Indonesian and US participants are scheduled to exercise their tactical fightercapabilities, evaluate their proficiency, identify future training areas, andenhance capabilities integral to a variety of bilateral missions, the embassy said.
Earlier on June 11, the Indonesian Air Force said that it will send severalF-16 fighter jets from Dragon Squadron 3 and Tiger Squadron 14 from IswahjudiAir Base in Madiun City, East Java province, and Ryder Squadron 16 from RoesminNurjadin Air Base in Pekanbaru to the exercise.
Cope West first took place in 1989. This yearmarks the 10th time Cope West being hosted in Indonesia./.