Ocorre anualmente na Ásia,envolvendo forças militares dos EUA,Tailandia,Singapura,Malásia,Brunei,etc..............
E nesse ano o Japao vai entrar na brincadeira!
Japan to join 'Cobra Gold 2005' exercise
ROBERT KARNIOL JDW Asia-Pacific Editor
Bangkok
Japan's Self-Defence Force (SDF) is set to participate in the 'Cobra Gold 2005' exercise to be held in Thailand between 2 and 13 May: the first time its ground forces have joined a multilateral training event.
The breakthrough initiative reinforces trends enunciated in Tokyo's new defence policy paper, released on 10 December 2004. These include greater emphasis on the SDF's international role, which was underscored by its involvement on an unprecedented scale in post-26 December tsunami relief operations.
The SDF should have 20 personnel at 'Cobra Gold 2005'. These will join 2,655 from Thailand, 3,614 from the US and 76 from Singapore. Mongolia and the Philippines, which joined the exercise last year, will be absent.
The 'Cobra Gold' series was launched in 1982 as a bilateral warfighting exercise involving treaty allies Thailand and the US. Singapore joined in 2000 as the focus shifted to include a peace enforcement element. Under Japan's influence as a potential participant, this was due to expand this year to include peacekeeping, but the recent tsunami that hit areas around the Indian Ocean saw direction shift at the last moment to emphasise disaster relief.
