Exercise Talisman Sabre (also formerly spelled Talisman Saber, the US English alternative title) is a biennial, multinational
military exercise
A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...
led by Australia and the United States. Talisman Sabre involves joint exercises performed by the
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...
and the
United States Military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
across six locations in northern and central Australia, the Coral Sea, and in Honolulu, Denver, and Suffolk, Va., though the bulk of the exercises are concentrated at the
Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area
Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area is a heritage-listed military installation at Byfield Road, Byfield, Queensland, Byfield, Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. It is a large, relatively undisturbed and intact natural system with a ...
and other locations in northern and central Australia and Australia's
territorial sea
The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...
and
exclusive economic zone.
To reflect its bilateral nature, the leadership of the exercise switches between Australia and the US every 2 years. The exercise focuses on crisis-action planning and contingency response, enhancing both nations' military capabilities to deal with regional contingencies and the
War on Terrorism
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant I ...
. The exercise is historically held in odd-numbered years starting from 2005, with the ninth iteration taking place in 2021.
Annual exercises
![Australian Army M1A1 Abrams tank during exercise Hamel 15](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Australian_Army_M1A1_Abrams_tank_during_exercise_Hamel_15.jpg)
Talisman Saber 2005 was the inaugural exercise in this series, conducted 12–27 June 2005, in Shoalwater Bay, Rockhampton, Townsville, and the Coral Sea, with 16,000 US and Australian troops. Planning for the exercises began in early 2003, and the exercise was meant to combine elements from previous exercises Tandem Thrust, Kingfisher, and Crocodile. During the exercise,
U.S. Pacific Command
United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Pacific, Indo-Pacific region.
Formerly known as United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) since its incept ...
and Australian Defence Force Joint Operations Command jointly executed more than 25 landing craft, air cushion (LCAC) trips and more than 1,300 Australian S-70A Blackhawk and
MH-60S Knight Hawk landings and takeoffs.
Talisman Sabre 2007 involved 26,000 US and Australian troops over 10 June – 25 July. The exercise primarily took place at Shoalwater Bay, the Townsville Field Training Area, and the
Bradshaw Field Training Area in central Queensland and in the Northern Territory. The exercise also involved the use of civilian airports including Sydney and Brisbane, and
RAAF Base Amberley
RAAF Base Amberley is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located southwest of Ipswich, Queensland in Australia and southwest of Brisbane CBD. It is currently home to No. 1 Squadron (operating the F/A-18F Super Hornet), N ...
. A focal point of the exercises was a joint amphibious landing that involved the launch of more than 2,500 personnel from six ships early on 20 June.
Talisman Saber 2009 was conducted 6–25 July 2009, with 10,000 Australian land and naval forces and 20,000 U.S. troops. The exercise was led by the United States and was conducted primarily at Shoalwater Bay and the Townsville Field Training Area. It involved various amphibious assault exercises and ship defense exercises.
Talisman Sabre 2011 was conducted in July 2011 and was led by Australian forces. It incorporated "combined Special Forces operations, parachute drops, amphibious (marine) landings, land force maneuvers, urban and air operations and the coordinated firing of live ammunition."
Talisman Saber 2013 saw
MV-22
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...
s deployed to Australia for the first time. Involved approximately 21,000 US and 7,000 AUS personnel with
Carrier Strike Group Five
Carrier Strike Group 5, also known as CSG 5 or CARSTRKGRU 5, is the U.S. Navy carrier strike group assigned to the United States Pacific Fleet and permanently forward deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet.
CSG 5 is responsible for unit-level training ...
,
Expeditionary Strike Group Seven
Expeditionary Strike Group SEVEN/Task Force 76 (Amphibious Force U.S. SEVENTH Fleet) is a United States Navy task force. It is part of the United States Seventh Fleet and the USN's only permanently forward-deployed expeditionary strike group. ...
,
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
,
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
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, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
, and the .
Talisman Sabre 2015 was conducted over 20 days from early to mid-July 2015 and involved up to 30,000 US and Australian troops. It was the largest combined military exercise undertaken by the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Defense forces from New Zealand (500 personnel) and Japan (40 personnel) joined the exercise for the first time this year.
The activities took place in the North Australian Range Complex (Bradshaw and Mount Bundy Training Areas and
Delamere Air Weapons Range) and the East Australian Range Complex (
Shoalwater Bay
Shoalwater Bay is a large bay on the Capricorn Coast of Central Queensland, Australia 100 km north of the coastal town of Yeppoon and 628 km north-north-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Since 1966, the land surrounding Shoalwater Ba ...
,
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
and
Cowley Beach Training Areas). A large-scale amphibious landing was also conducted at
Fog Bay in the Northern Territory.
Talisman Saber 2017 began in June 2017 and involved more than 33,000 Australian and US troops. Alongside the , 20 other ships and over 200 aircraft took part in what was the countries' largest exercise to date. Personnel from New Zealand, Japan, and Canada were embedded within Australian and United States units. Additionally, the Chinese Navy deployed a
Type 815G Dongdiao-class electronic surveillance ship to monitor the exercise.
Talisman Sabre 2019 began in July 2019, with more than 34,000 personnel participating from 18 countries, including Australia, United States, Canada, Japan and New Zealand. The Exercise was officially launched on 8 July 2019 on board USS ''Ronald Reagan''. Once again, the Chinese Navy sent a Type 815G Dongdiao-class ship, the ''Tianwangxing'' (Uranus), to monitor the exercise, and there was speculation that China had a "keen interest" in how Japan’s vessels interacted with and operated alongside the ADF and the US forces. The F-35B also made its debut in Australia during the exercise aboard
USS ''Wasp''. It was also the first time that both LHDs, and , had operated together.
Talisman Saber 2021 was conducted in July 2021. The exercise was modified in scope and scale, with added health protection measures due to COVID-19 considerations. More than 17,000 personnel from Australia and the United States and forces from Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, while the Australia-based personnel from India, Indonesia, France and Germany observed the exercise. Additionally, MIM-104 Patriot Systems were tested in the exercise for the first time. For what was believed to be also the first time, the Chinese Navy deployed two
Type 815 spy ship
The Type 815, as well as its derivatives Type 815G and Type 815A, are Chinese electronic surveillance ships in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Type 815 spy ship has received NATO reporting name Dongdiao class (meaning Ea ...
s to observe the exercise: the ''Tianwangxing'' and her younger sister the ''Haiwangxing'' (Neptune).
Opposition and protests
There have been regular protests against the exercises since 2007.
There was opposition to Talisman Sabre 2007 from peace activists and a number of environmental groups, with environmental concerns ranging from general contamination to the purported damaging effects of sonar on local marine life. The Australian and American militaries have previously recognized the environmental concerns of operating in this area, with troops undergoing environmental impact briefings before arriving at the location in 2005, and an environmental training center to be constructed before the 2007 exercise.
![US Marines Talisman Saber 07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/US_Marines_Talisman_Saber_07.jpg)
In 2013 a number of protesters ventured into the live-fire zone of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area. More protestors pledged to disrupt the exercises in 2015.
Environmental concerns
There have been concerns that
depleted uranium
Depleted uranium (DU; also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy or D-38) is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope than natural uranium.: "Depleted uranium possesses only 60% of the radioactivity of natural uranium, hav ...
munitions, which have been linked to increased incidence of cancer, posing significant health risks, have been used at the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area during Exercise Talisman Saber. Prior to the 2005 exercise, the Australian Department of Defence issued a press release which stated that depleted uranium "will not be used in TS05 by either Australian or US forces" and that this was "unequivocal". This commitment was reiterated prior to Talisman Saber 2009.
In 2013, the US Navy dropped at least two bombs into the sea after an exercise went wrong. Protesters claimed the bombs were hazardous to the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian government initially said the bombs were no threat and would remain where they were. But public pressure saw the US Navy retrieve the bombs.
See also
*
Exercise Kangaroo
Exercise Kangaroo was a joint warfare exercise that was held by the Australian Defence Force in the 1970s and 1980s.
The first iteration of Exercise Kangaroo took place in 1974. The military units involved included the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbo ...
*
Vostok 2010 Vostok 2010 (russian: Восток 2010, lit=East 2010) was a large-scale Russian military exercise held in Siberia and the country's Far East from June 29 to July 8, 2010.Radyuhin, Vladimir. "Large war game in Russia's far east." TheHindu.com. The ...
*
Vostok 2018
Vostok 2018 (russian: Восток 2018, lit=East 2018) was a large-scale Russian military exercise, held from 11 to 17 September 2018, throughout Siberia and the Russian Far East in the Eastern Military District. The exercise involved units ...
References
External links
Exercise Talisman Sabre 2011, United States Department of DefenseExercise Talisman Sabre 2011, Australian Department of Defence
{{Australia–United States relations
Australian military exercises
Military exercises involving the United States
Australia–United States military relations