MANILA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Some 30 military aircraft and three vessels from the Philippines and the United States will be deployed in the coming joint military exercises in the northern part of the country, a military spokesman said here Wednesday.
Colonel Arnulfo Burgos, spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said that of the 30 aircraft, 20 will come from the U. S. military, and they will support more than 8,000 Filipino and American soldiers in the two-week "Balikatan 2013," which will officially kick off on April 5 and end on April 17.
The air assets will be deployed to support the Filipino and U.S. troops' joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR)- focused military training in Central Luzon, he said.
They will also provide air logistics support and services to both U.S. and Philippine service members during the joint exercises, Burgos added.
This year's Balikatan exercises seek to address disasters which recently hit the Philippines with the objectives of supporting the government with the development of regional disaster management and emergency response mechanisms.
Security officials from Australia, Brunei, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand were invited to participate in the Multinational Maritime Security Roundtable Discussion in the Philippines.
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