The "Garuda Shield" joint training will see militaries from 14 countries – including the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan – participate in ground drills and beach-landing exercises from August 1-14 in Indonesia's South Sumatra archipelago and the East of Borneo island, the Indonesian Army said.

A US official said an estimated 3,000 soldiers will participate in the event.

This year's expansion of military cooperation signals an increase in defense ties between the US and some Asia Pacific nations, with tensions flaring in the disputed waters.

The region abuts up to the flashpoint South China Sea – a vital waterway that Beijing claims almost in its entirety, and has been a key point of contention between several Southeast Asian nations and China during annual meetings.

But Ian Francis, chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the US embassy in Jakarta, called the expanded war games a "natural outgrowth of the Indonesian Military's [TNI] continuing capability and their willingness to work more broadly with partners".

"This really demonstrates that the US has a growing security cooperation relationship with Indonesia," he told AFP.

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