Royal Marines were part of a multinational force practising hostage rescue in an anti-terrorism training exercise in Sydney Harbour.
Marines from 42 Commando joined their counterparts from Australia, the U.S., Japan and Singapore to carry out the drill, which was part of the ongoing Talisman Sabre 2025 Exercise.
As per a recent Royal Navy press statement the British forces fast-roped down onto a passenger ferry from a US Army MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter assigned to 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment against a backdrop that included the iconic Sydney Opera House and the city’s harbour bridge.
The simulated mission to recapture a New South Wales ferry also involved U.S. Special Forces using Chinook helicopters and specialist Australian inflatable raiding craft.
Talisman Sabre 2025, the bilateral U.S.-Australian multi-domain exercise now in its 11th iteration, has been the largest such exercise staged to date. It runs until August 4 and by its end will have involved 19 nations and around 35,000 military personnel across operational theatres from Darwin to Brisbane.
In addition, offshore elements are also being conducted in Papua New Guinea for the first time.
The U.K. Carrier Strike Group led by HMS Prince of Wales has been taking part in Talisman Sabre 2025 as part of the eight-month Operation Highmast deployment to the Indo-Pacific region.
The Royal Navy flagship has been sailing side by side in the Timor Sea with Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington, leading her own strike group as part of U.S. 7th Fleet.
The two huge ships, plus air assets, and a host of destroyers, frigates and other support vessels linked up for operations in the waters between Australia and Indonesia.
The HMS Prince of Wales sailed to HMAS Connawarra in Darwin, marking the first time this century a British aircraft carrier has visited Australia.
- You can read more details on the Royal Navy website