The turnout for this year's Talisman Sabre should surpass that of the 2023 exercise, which involved roughly 30,000 troops from 13 nations and three observer countries. (Stars and Stripes)
The biennial Talisman Sabre is set to begin next month, bringing together a record number of troops from 19 countries for joint training across Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Scheduled to run from July 13 to Aug. 4, the military exercise’s 11th iteration is expected to draw about 35,000 troops to Australia’s eastern coast, U.S. Army Pacific announced in a news release Monday.
In addition to Australia and the United States, participating countries include Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, according to the release.
Observers from Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam are also expected to attend, the Australian government said in an April 23 statement.
The turnout should surpass that of the 2023 exercise, which involved roughly 30,000 troops from 13 nations and three observer countries.
“The logistics for preparing, staging, integrating and moving forces to and around Australia are the most complex ever undertaken for a Talisman Sabre,” the Australian Defence Force said in the April release.
All six branches of the U.S. armed forces are expected to participate in the Australia-led exercise, which is conducted in coordination with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
“Along with the opportunity to hone military skills, involvement from United States and Australian government agencies make this a collaborative whole-of-government effort,” U.S. Army Pacific said in its release.
Planned drills include amphibious landings, live-fire exercises, large-scale land combat, aircraft operations, medical evacuations, naval warfare, and the deployment of a mobile combat operations center, according to the release.
More technical elements include cyber defense, intelligence analysis, surveillance operations, tactical data networks, and contributions from space units from the U.S., Australia and other nations, the release said.
Staged every other year since 2005, Talisman Sabre remains the U.S.’s largest exercise with Australia and “demonstrates the strong U.S.-Australia alliance, which has sustained cooperation and trust throughout decades of operating, training, and exercising together,” according to Monday’s release.
