Talisman Sabre 2025 To Feature 19 Nations And 30,000 Personnel

The Australian Defence Force has released more details about this year’s Talisman Sabre, set to be the largest version of the exercise yet staged, with a special focus on multi-domain warfare.

As per a recent Defence Australia press statement, Talisman Sabre 2025, the bilateral combined training activity between the Australian Defence Force and the U.S. military, will run from July 13 to August 4.

The 11th iteration of the biennial manoeuvres is also set to include no fewer than 17 other nations: as well as the U.K., the full list includes Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Tonga.

Representatives of three further nations — Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam — will attend as observers. In total more than 30,000 troops will be involved in the exercise.

The U.K. Carrier Strike Group headed by Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales is scheduled to participate as part of Operation Highmast, its eight-month Indo-Pacific deployment that also takes in exercises and port visits in the Indian Ocean, a visit to Japan, and training alongside the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force.

As per the ADF press statement, key activities will include amphibious and airborne lodgements, firepower demonstrations, and combat across land, air, sea, space and cyber domains. 

Operations will be conducted in Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, New South Wales and on Christmas Island; also, in a Talisman Sabre first, Papua New Guinea will host an element of the exercise.

Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Justin Jones commented: “Talisman Sabre demonstrates our enduring alliance with the United States, through deepening cooperation in training and force integration.

“It is a key opportunity to work with our partners from across the region and around the globe, demonstrating our combined capability to achieve large-scale operational outcomes together.”

Exercise Director, Brigadier Damian Hill added: “This year’s exercise will demonstrate our ability to receive large volumes of personnel and equipment into Australia from across the Indo-Pacific, to stage, integrate and move them forward into the large exercise area.”

• You can read more details on the Defence Australia website