Cambodia will conduct a live fire drill from Dec. 27-31 in order to strengthen capacity for the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces in defending territory integrity, Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh said Thursday.

"The exercise is to test our new weapons," he told reporters. "It is also to build up human resources for our armed forces."

Gen. Pol Saroeun, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, said that BM-21 rocket launchers will be fired during the exercise, to be held at the military training field in Kampong Speu province, about 70 km west of capital Phnom Penh.

It will be the third time that the country holds the live fire drill with BM21 rockets. The first one was made in March 2010 and the second one was in April this year.

Cambodia has begun to strengthen its defense capacity since it has territorial dispute with Thailand in 2008. The dispute had triggered several times of deadly armed clashes between troops of the two countries.