Joint naval exercise planned

SURABAYA, East Java: About 800 marines will take part in a war game with the United States navy in the Java and Makasar Seas scheduled for the middle of this month.

Chief of the Naval Fleet for the eastern region Rear Admiral Gofar Soewarno told journalists on Tuesday that the navy would include five warships, two of them corvettes, in the joint exercise.

"The exercise will directly involve 600 American and 200 Indonesian marines," he said as quoted by Antara.

The war game, code-named Indosa, aims to hone the navy's combat skills in different battlefields and improve bilateral relations between the two countries, he said.

Earlier this year, the two navies conducted a joint exercise in the Java Sea near Bali. (pan)