logo
Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway

Largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway

Arab News14-07-2025
MELBOURNE: The largest-ever warfighting drills in Australia, Exercise Talisman Sabre, is underway and expected to attract the attention of Chinese spy ships.
Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia. This year, more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations, including Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, will take part over three weeks, Australia's defense department said on Sunday.
Malaysia and Vietnam are also attending as observers.
The exercise will also take part in Papua New Guinea, Australia's nearest neighbor. It is the first time Talisman Sabre activities have been held outside Australia.
Chinese surveillance ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and were expected to surveil the current exercise, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.
'The Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017. It'd be very unusual for them not to observe it,' Conroy told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
'We'll adjust accordingly. We'll obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we'll also adjust how we conduct those exercises,' Conroy added.
Conroy said the Chinese were not yet shadowing ships as of Sunday.
The exercise officially started on Sunday with a ceremony in Sydney attended by Deputy Commanding General of US Army Pacific Lt. Gen. J.B. Vowell and Australia's Chief of Joint Operations Vice-Adm. Justin Jones.
The exercise, showcasing Australia's defense alliance with the United States, started a day after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began a six-day visit to China.
Albanese is expected to hold his fourth face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.
The Australian leader has been criticized at home for failing to secure a face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

New Zealand and Australia seek closer military ties following Chinese live-fire naval exercise
New Zealand and Australia seek closer military ties following Chinese live-fire naval exercise

Arab News

timea day ago

  • Arab News

New Zealand and Australia seek closer military ties following Chinese live-fire naval exercise

MELBOURNE: The leaders of New Zealand and Australia on Saturday discussed closer cooperation between they their expanding militaries against the backdrop of a recent extraordinary Chinese live-fire exercise near their shores. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon hosted his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese at the tourist city of Queenstown for their second annual bilateral leaders' meeting. Luxon said his country wanted closer military cooperation with Australia, a country he describes as New Zealand's 'only ally.' 'A big focus for us has been interoperability with Australia. We want to be a force multiplier,' Luxon told reporters. 'We want to be one, sort of, essential Anzac force essentially operating within our region,' he added, referring to the Australian New Zealand Army Corps in which the two nations' soldiers first fought together during World War I. The summit follows a Chinese naval flotilla firing weapons in February in the Tasman Sea, which separates Australia and New Zealand. The exercise forced commercial airlines to divert flights. The Chinese navy rarely ventures so far south and the mission that partially circumnavigated Australia was seen as a demonstration of China's growing military reach. Albanese said last month that he complained to China's President Xi Jinping during a state visit to Beijing about the lack of notice the Chinese had given of the live-fire exercise. Xi replied that Australia also engaged in exercises, referring to freedom of navigation missions conducted by Australian military in the disputed South China Sea. Albanese and Luxon recognized their countries face the most unpredictable and dangerous strategic environment in decades and their alliance plays a critical role in protecting and advancing their shared interest in the region, they said in a joint statement. The prime ministers also commended progress over the past year to intensify defense cooperation and integration. While the statement did not mention China, the prime ministers confirmed their most important trading partner was discussed. 'Of course, the geostrategic competition, in particular between the great powers, is something that countries like Australia and New Zealand do discuss together and we cooperate politically,' Albanese said. Luxon said 'both countries have followed pretty much the same playbook' in their bilateral dealings with China. 'China's an important world power. It's important that we can engage,' Luxon said. 'We genuinely are able to have a conversation – I think a very mature one now – to say, look, we do have very different histories, we do have different systems, we do have different values, that does mean we do have differences. Good partners should be not afraid to talk about those things,' Luxon added. Luxon announced in April a plan to make the New Zealand Defense Force more combat capable that would double defense spending to more than 2 percent of GDP. He described the rise from around 1 percent over the past two decades as 'a big step up for us.' In a demonstration of Tokyo seeking deeper strategic ties in the South Pacific, Japanese warships docked in New Zealand on Friday for the first time in almost 90 years. Australia announced this week Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build a fleet of 11 Australian naval frigates with a contract expected to be worth $6.5 billion. Australia's most expensive defense expansion is a submarine deal with the United States and Britain that is expected to cost up to $245 billion. Under the trilateral partnership known by the acronym AUKUS, Australia will acquire a fleet of eight submarines powered by US nuclear technology. US President Donald Trump has urged western countries to increase their defense budgets and rely less on the US for their security. Albanese told reporters on Saturday: 'If people argue that we should increase our defense spending, we are.'

Australia urges Israel not to take military control of Gaza
Australia urges Israel not to take military control of Gaza

Arab News

time2 days ago

  • Arab News

Australia urges Israel not to take military control of Gaza

SYDNEY: Australia has urged Israel 'not to go down this path,' after Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel intended to take military control of Gaza. 'Australia calls on Israel to not go down this path, which will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,' Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on Friday. Wong said permanent forced displacement was a violation of international law and repeated calls for a ceasefire, aid to flow unimpeded and for militant group Hamas to return the hostages taken in October 2023. 'A two-state solution is the only pathway to secure an enduring peace – a Palestinian state and the State of Israel, living side-by-side in peace and security within internationally-recognized borders,' she added. Australia has not yet joined Western allies such as the UK, Canada and France in announcing it would recognize Palestinian statehood but has said it would make a decision 'at an appropriate time,' while escalating its criticism of Israel's actions. Wong's comments come in response to Netanyahu saying Israel intended to take military control of all of Gaza during an interview with Fox News. He said Israel wanted to hand over the territory to Arab forces that would govern it, without elaborating on the governance arrangements or which Arab countries could be involved. After a security cabinet meeting on Friday, Netanyahu's office confirmed a plan to take over Gaza City had been approved. A statement said the Israeli Defense Forces would prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones.

Australia urges Israel not to take military control of Gaza
Australia urges Israel not to take military control of Gaza

Al Arabiya

time2 days ago

  • Al Arabiya

Australia urges Israel not to take military control of Gaza

Australia has called on Israel to abandon plans to take military control of Gaza, warning it would deepen the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn enclave. 'Australia calls on Israel to not go down this path, which will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,' Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on Friday. Wong said permanent forced displacement would violate international law, and she reiterated Australia's calls for an immediate ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid, and for the extremist group Hamas to return hostages taken in October 2023. 'A two-state solution is the only pathway to secure an enduring peace — a Palestinian state and the State of Israel, living side-by-side in peace and security within internationally recognized borders,' she said. Australia has not yet joined Western allies such as the UK, Canada, and France in recognizing Palestinian statehood but has said it would make a decision 'at an appropriate time.' Canberra has recently escalated its criticism of Israel's conduct during the war. Wong's statement followed comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told Fox News that Israel intended to take full military control of Gaza. He said the goal was to eventually transfer governance to Arab forces, though he did not specify which countries would be involved or what the arrangement would look like. After a security cabinet meeting on Friday, Netanyahu's office confirmed that a plan to take over Gaza City had been approved. A statement said the Israeli military would prepare to seize control of Gaza City while continuing to provide humanitarian assistance.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store