Australia and the United States’ highly anticipated “Talisman Sabre 2025” military exercise officially kicked off on Sunday, July 13. This year’s exercise involves over 35,000 military personnel from 19 countries. The Australian Department of Defence stated that this is the largest and most complex military drill in the history of Australia.
According to a press release from the Australian Department of Defence, over the next three weeks, forces from Australia and its partner countries will be deployed in Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales, and Christmas Island. The exercise will also take place for the first time in Papua New Guinea, outside of Australian territory.
Apart from the US and Australian forces, troops from 17 other countries are participating as cooperative partners. These countries include Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom.
Malaysia and Vietnam are attending the exercise as observers.
“Talisman Sabre 2025” includes live-fire exercises and field training activities covering force preparation, amphibious landings, ground force exercises, air combat, naval operations, and the showcasing of a range of new strike capabilities of the Australian Defence Force, including UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and precision strike missiles.
The purpose of the “Talisman Sabre” exercise is to test the abilities of participating countries in planning and executing joint multinational and joint multi-domain special operations forces, as well as enhance the readiness and interoperability between Australian and US forces and partner countries.
US Pacific Army Deputy Commander Joel B. Vowell stated, “‘Talisman Sabre 2025’ exercise vividly demonstrates our joint strength, trust, interoperability, and readiness in the Indo-Pacific region.”
“Exercises like ‘Talisman Sabre’ allow us to employ combat power to conduct operations in key locations, showcasing our multinational determination and inspiring our collective will. This is how we generate deterrence and strive to achieve our ultimate goal: no war,” Vowell said.
“We are building tactical confidence, conducting operational exercises, and reaffirming our strategic commitments to a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” he added.
The US has been striving to enhance deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region through military exercises and upgrading weapon systems to deter Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from invading Taiwan and expanding its regional military presence.
Commander of Australian Joint Operations Justin Jones stated on Sunday, “‘Talisman Sabre 2025’ exercise brings together over 35,000 military personnel from 19 countries and provides an excellent opportunity for joint training in maritime, land, air, space, and cyberspace domains.”
“The ‘Talisman Sabre’ exercise strongly underscores Australia’s ongoing commitment to strengthening relationships with trusted allies and partners to support a peaceful, stable, and sovereign Indo-Pacific region,” Jones said.
Since 2017, the Chinese Communist Party has regularly dispatched spy ships to observe the “Talisman Sabre” military exercise. Australian Defence Minister Mars expressed his full belief that China will also engage in surveillance activities this year.