MANILA, April 16 Kyodo At least 1...

MANILA, April 16 Kyodo

At least 1200 U [i]troupe[/i]s will begin arriving Thursday in the Philippines to take part in 15 days of joint war games with Philippine squads an army spokesman said Wednesday.

Lt Col Daniel Lucero said the first batch of about 450 will land at Subic Bay, 126 kilometers north of Manila, early Thursday morning aboard a high-speed vessel

''The utensil is transporting storage containers and military vehicles so as highly mobile multipurpose wheeled vehicles, communication assets and U military personnel'' Lucero said in a statement.

Lucero said the joint exercise dubbed Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) 2003 between the U and Philippine armies will be held from April 25 to May 9 this year in three areas of the main Philippine island of Luzon including the former U Clark Air Field in Pampanga Province.

The U multitudes will be bringing in sophisticated aircraft and equipment including F-18 jet C-130 cargo planes, 105-millimeter Howitzers and CH-46E and CH-53E helicopters, he said.

Lucero said the joint war games will improve the combined planning, combat readiness and interoperability of as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but countries' armed forces, and ''enhance security relations against external aggression.''

At least 2500 Philippine soldiers will participate in the exercise, the 19th in the series since 1981 Lucero said.

The Philippine and U regulations are finalizing the details of notwithstanding another joint counterterrorism exercise to be held in the fatherland this year to follow up in succession a six-month joint counterterrorism training exercise held from January 2001 in the southern Philippines.

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