Papua New Guinea will, for the first time, host activities in Australia’s largest military training exercise with the United States.
Australian Defence Force (ADF) Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Justin Jones said this year’s Exercise Talisman Sabre would be the largest ever, involving more than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations, from July 13 to August 4.
“Now in its eleventh iteration, Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral combined training activity between the Australian Defence Force and the United States military,” Vice Admiral Jones said.
He said the activities would take place right across the nation, including Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, New South Wales and on Christmas Island.
“For the first time ever, Papua New Guinea will also host an activity, highlighting the growing capabilities and interoperability with Pacific partners as Papua New Guinea marks its 50th Anniversary of Independence.”
Vice Admiral Jones said participating partner nations also included Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, with Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam attending as observers.
He said Talisman Sabre 2025 would focus on multi-domain warfighting, with key activities including amphibious and airborne lodgements, firepower demonstrations, and combat across land, air, sea, space and cyber domains.
“The logistics for preparing, staging, integrating and moving forces to and around Australia are the most complex ever undertaken for a Talisman Sabre.”
