Cobra Gold 2026 set to return as “Heavy Year”; Cambodia absent
Thailand and the US will stage the 45th Cobra Gold exercise from Feb 24–Mar 6, 2026, with more than 8,000 personnel from 30 countries joining full-scale, all-domain training — but Cambodia is not included among this year’s participants or observers.
Cambodia not included this year
Cambodia is excluded from Cobra Gold 2026, which lists 30 participating countries across exercise, planning and observer roles. The observer group includes Laos and Vietnam, but not Cambodia.
Dates and scale
Cobra Gold 2026 — the 45th iteration — will run from February 24 to March 6, 2026, with more than 8,000 personnel involved.
First launched in 1982, Cobra Gold is one of the region’s longest-running multinational exercises.
Who is taking part
Main participating countries (7): Thailand, the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.
Additional participants (3): China, India and Australia.
MPAT planning group (10): Bangladesh, Canada, Fiji, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Observer (COLT) group (10): Brunei, Germany, Jordan, Laos, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.
Heavy Year focus: all-domain operations
This year’s “Heavy Year” cycle will train combined joint operations across land, sea, air, space and cyber domains, according to the report.
Key training components
Command and control exercise (C2X): Joint command-and-control training, including space and cyber elements, with an amphibious component referenced at Hat Yao in Rayong.
Humanitarian civic assistance (HCA) and disaster relief (HADR): Five construction projects in training areas, plus tabletop and demonstration disaster-response activities.
Field training exercise (FTX): Amphibious operations, non-combatant evacuation, combined live-fire training and other drills including maritime strike, integrated air and missile defence, counter-drone training and signals intelligence.
