Expanded multinational space domain component key part of Cobra Gold 2025
Tech. Sgt. Emerson Nunez/U.S. Air Force
Exercise Cobra Gold, long a cornerstone of Thailand-United States military engagement in the Indo-Pacific, expanded into the space domain in 2025 with a multinational initiative to enhance interoperability and strengthen regional partnerships.
“The goal is to establish a joint, combined, multinational component command specifically for space,” said Maj. Garry Stratiev, space operations planner for the U.S. Army Pacific’s 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force. “It’s comprised of eight countries in this piece, and on the U.S. side, we have multiple services, including the Army, Air Force, Space Force, as well as the Navy.”
Other full participants in the component command included Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
The 44th iteration of Cobra Gold, which was held in Thailand from late February to early March, included about 8,200 personnel from 30 countries. The exercise demonstrates a steadfast commitment to enhancing critical capabilities and the readiness required to address regional security challenges.
Integrating space capabilities into Cobra Gold reflects growing recognition of space as a critical operational domain.
“It is an absolute necessity to be able to inform our Allies and Partners of how we organize ourselves in terms of the space domain in the U.S., and also how we conduct operations,” said Maj. Moises Rendon, strategy and plans division chief for U.S. Space Forces — Indo-Pacific. “One of our goals is to make sure they have a baseline understanding of the military decision-making process and enough of an understanding of how we integrate space into that planning process.”
The 2025 exercise marked the third year that U.S. Space Force participated. A key objective is to empower partner nations to develop space capabilities.
“A lot of countries we’ve talked to are still setting up their space operations, so they’re absolutely interested in partnering up and further enhancing their capabilities, expanding their opportunities to integrate space,” Stratiev said.
“I think by us working together with our Allies and Partners in the region, we can further enhance the capabilities we can provide. … The goal is always for us to enable our partners.”
