Talisman Sabre is a multinational military exercise that will involve 30,000 service members from 13 nations, including the United States and its neighbours in the Pacific. The Australian defence force anticipates that Chinese intelligence will attempt to monitor the exercise.
There has been prior success with similar attempts at monitoring. The Australian government announced in 2021 that it was keeping a watch on the Chinese auxiliary general intelligence vessel Tianwangxing as it approached Australia’s east coast in the lead-up to Talisman Sabre. This announcement was made during the year 2021.
In this year’s iteration of Talisman Sabre, countries such as Germany and Indonesia will be among those taking part for the very first time. The training session, which will last for two weeks and begin on Friday, will take place in a variety of locales, one of which is Shoalwater Bay in Queensland.
Brigadier General Damian Hill, who was in charge of the drill, stated that he anticipated that Chinese intelligence will attempt to observe the activity once again this year.
“Even though they aren’t invited, they still turn up,” he stated. “Even though they’re not invited, they still turn up.” “However, they haven’t even bothered to ask to be invited.”
Hill stated that this type of surveillance had not hampered past Talisman Sabre exercises, and Australia expects that any vessels that engage in this type of monitoring will operate in compliance with international law.
According to reports from 2021, the Tianwangxing was still operating outside of Australian territorial seas while remaining inside of Australia’s exclusive economic zone.
Hill declined to specify whether the ADF had already identified any Chinese vessels in route, saying that it was “not within my remit to do so.” However, he did add that “Our expectation is that there will be.”
During the exercise, he confirmed that Australia and other countries had put precautions in place to protect communications, including the following: “Yes, without a doubt, we do.”
According to Hill, it was “fantastic” to have Germany join Talisman Sabre for the very first time, and he praised South Korea for making a “expanded commitment” since the previous exercise. Germany was also one of the countries that participated. According to him, Japan planned to test its surface-to-ship missile of the type 12 in Jervis Bay, which is located south of Sydney.
“It’s really great to see more nations – particularly nations that either have a Pacific strategy or are actually in the Indo-Pacific – participating in the exercise,” he added. “Specifically, it’s great to see more nations that either have a Pacific strategy or are actually in the Indo-Pacific.”
Indonesia, which will be participating in Talisman Sabre for the very first time as a full participant, will have two areas of concentration.
“The first one is integrating and undertaking amphibious activities, so they’ll be integrating with us some Indonesian marines,” Hill said. “The second one is conducting amphibious operations.”
“The second one is that they’ll undertake a parachute insertion into Shoalwater Bay in early August alongside our American friends as well, which is something that is of particular interest to them.”
According to Hill, this was also the first time that a number of Pacific nations, such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga, would be integrated inside the units of the Australian Defense Force in Talisman Sabre.
It’s true that we’ve seen them in the vicinity of the workout before, but never in the kind of natural setting that we have now. “What we’ve tried to do is incorporate them more fully into the exercise,” he added. “What we’ve tried to do is incorporate them into the exercise.”
Because we live in the same area and are, in a sense, geographically related to one another, we ought to coordinate our efforts more closely and do so more frequently.
“The great benefit of working with people in the region is that if there is a disaster or something that needs to be done, we can immediately speak to the person who we may have exercised with a year ago or five minutes ago,” the author writes. “If there is something that needs to be done, we can immediately speak to the person who we may have exercised with a year ago or five minutes ago.”
Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, revealed to reporters in March in New Delhi that India had been invited to take part in Talisman Sabre; however, India has subsequently stated that it will not be participating in the exercise this year. Albanese made this revelation to reporters in New Delhi.
Hill stated that India has “made a careful decision based upon what they can and cannot do” in regard to their participation in the upcoming exercise Malabar. Malabar will take place in India.
“But it’s great that we’ve got four Indian officers participating once again as observers – and we’re working very hard with India to offer them the opportunity to participate fully in 2025.” “But it’s great that we’ve got four Indian officers participating once again as observers.”
This year’s drill will have a significant emphasis on logistics, with the United States expecting to spend ten days constructing a temporary pier near Bowen, which is located in north Queensland. The pier will be 540 meters in length.
“Then, we’ll bring some US army and other amphibious vessels alongside, and then we’ll effectively deliver vehicles, armoured vehicles, and the like from offshore onshore, and then we’ll drive them through the streets of Bowen while being careful, and then we’ll drive them up to the exercise area in Townsville,” Hill added. “Then, we’ll bring some US army and other amphibious vessels alongside.”
Additionally, the United States of America and Australia have plans to create a logistics and medical headquarters at the Gallipoli barracks in Brisbane. These “nodes” will be connected to all of the places in which the upcoming exercises will take place.
“The activity is taking place across a wider geographical area than it ever has before… The westernmost section of the exercise is around 6,000 kilometres away from the easternmost part, which is approximately the same distance as that between Hawaii and Chicago.
“Both the logistics and the medical planning need to be done extremely carefully. As a result, we have established two joint headquarters, which are focusing exclusively on the question of how we can provide assistance to and safeguard the people who are working across huge distances.
It is anticipated that Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary of the United States, and Richard Marles, the deputy prime minister of Australia, will pay a visit to the troops that are taking part in the exercise in north Queensland.
Next week, Austin and Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State for the United States of America, will make their first stop in Brisbane for their yearly meeting with Marles and Penny Wong, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Australia.
According to the announcement made by the Australian government, the discussion during the meeting would centre on “ways to deepen collaboration across the breadth of relationship, including the one on defence and security cooperation, climate and clean energy, and economic resilience.”
