The 11th and “largest” iteration of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 has successfully concluded after three weeks of extensive training involving forces from across the globe.
The exercise, which took place in Australia, featured a variety of military operations such as live-fire and land combat exercises, amphibious landings, air combat, and large-scale maritime activities.
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At its peak, Exercise Talisman Sabre saw 43,000 personnel from 19 countries including Australia, Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom engage in joint training with US forces.
Malaysia and Vietnam had representatives attending as observers.
Joint Operations chief vice admiral Justin Jones said: “This year has been the largest iteration of Exercise Talisman Sabre in its 20-year history.
“We’ve had 32 ships, eight of which were amphibious ships, and two carrier strike groups from the UK and US. We’ve had 297 aircraft participate and 2000 sorties. We’ve moved 32 million kilograms of cargo and over 16,000 military personnel around the country.
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By GlobalData“It is an extensive, tactical field training exercise by nature, over an extraordinary geographic scale; approximately 5300km from Christmas Island, north-west of Australia, through to the southern NSW coast.”
During the exercise, the Australian Defence Force conducted its first live-firing of the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), utilising precision strike missiles.
The US forces also demonstrated successful land-to-sea engagement with their mid-range capability by employing an SM-6 missile against a maritime target.
The participation of a UK-led Carrier Strike Group marked the first time a non-US aircraft carrier played a role in Talisman Sabre.
Another highlight was a joint force entry operation that saw 335 US Army paratroopers from the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska deploy to Charters Towers alongside French and German paratroopers.
Vice admiral Jones added: “Talisman Sabre 2025 has been an enormous success. It is a powerful symbol to have 19 nations from not only the Indo-Pacific but from across the world, operating together in Australia. These are friends, allies and partners that have a shared vision for the Indo-Pacific. Together we are stronger, together we are prepared.”
