A Thai soldier applies face paint ahead of a Cobra Gold drone exercise in Phu Lam Yai, Thailand, March 1, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Cobra Gold, the largest multinational military exercise in mainland Asia, concluded in explosive fashion, but the real focus was a renewed emphasis on modern tactics and emerging technologies.
The 11-day exercise that ended Friday brought approximately 8,000 troops from 30 countries to Thailand for a variety of drills, simulations and training that featured cyber, space and drone warfare as overarching themes.
Now in its 44th year, Cobra Gold has marked numerous milestones over the decades, and this year was no different.
In one drill, U.S. soldiers with FIM-92D Stinger missiles targeted small practice drones. In another, troops carried a new anti-drone weapon into the field and tested it on two swarms of about 12 drones each.
Using the Stinger — a first during Cobra Gold — and focusing on anti-drone warfare demonstrated an “adaptation to modern airborne threats” and use of novel tactics, Capt. Jennifer Messina, spokeswoman for the 7th Infantry Division’s Combined Joint Information Bureau, told Stars and Stripes in an email Friday.
Away from the field, a multinational contingent of cyberdefense and space experts, including personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Space Force, practiced computer network defense against a simulated virtual attack throughout the nearly two-week exercise.
A UH-60 Black Hawk lands ahead of a Cobra Gold live-fire drill in Lopburi, Thailand, Feb. 27, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
An M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, is used in Cobra Gold live-fire drills in Korat, Thailand, March 6, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. airmen discuss cybersecurity during the Cobra Gold exercise in Nong Phai Lom, Thailand, March 4, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Maj. Gen. Michelle Schmidt, left, 7th Infantry Division commander; Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, center, I Corps commander; and Lt. Col. Brandon Wohlschlegel, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment commander, discuss Cobra Gold's first-ever use of an FIM-92D Stinger in Lopburi, Thailand, Feb. 28, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
Cyber specialists focused on protecting ground-based systems, including local internet networks, while space experts concentrated on satellites and other assets above 62 miles in altitude.
The inclusion of space as its own component — rather than a subcomponent of another command — was another first for Cobra Gold, marking a “very, very special year” for the exercise, said Maj. Moises Rendon, strategy and plans division chief for U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific.
“This is only the third year that space has been included in Cobra Gold, and it’s been in a ‘crawl, walk, run’ operation,” he told reporters March 4 during a tour of Thailand’s Wing One air force base in Korat. “This year is our first year of ‘run,’ and we have, as I mentioned before, made sure that space was its own component with its own multinational force.”
The space component focused on improving communication and coordination among the participating nations — the U.S., Thailand, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea — so they could “use the same systems and same organizational structure” for greater effectiveness in a simulated conflict, Rendon said.
While new technologies played a key role, Cobra Gold also included large-scale simulated battles, live-fire demonstrations and other traditional drills.
The exercise began winding down Thursday with a thunderous display from an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, as part of a rapid infiltration exercise.
The following day, the exercise culminated in a large-scale combined arms drill featuring infantry, armor, artillery and aircraft from the U.S. and other nations in a “dynamic live-fire battle drill,” Messina said.
A closing ceremony followed, where military leaders “reaffirmed their collective commitment to regional security and partnership,” she wrote.
