The deputy commander of U.S. Army Pacific, Lt. Gen. Joel Vowell, speaks to reporters during Talisman Sabre’s opening ceremony aboard the HMAS Adelaide in Sydney, July 13, 2025. (Danyellah Hill/Australia Department of Defence)
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia – Military training involving more than 35,000 troops from the United States, Australia and 17 other nations began Sunday with a ceremony aboard one of Australia’s largest warships.
The biennial Talisman Sabre exercise – now in its 11th iteration – is slated to run through Aug. 4. A launch ceremony took place aboard the HMAS Adelaide at Garden Island in Sydney.
“Talisman Sabre 2025 is the largest and most sophisticated warfighting exercise ever conducted in Australia,” organizers said in a news release after the launch.
Australia’s chief of joint operations, Vice Adm. Justin Jones, and U.S. Army Pacific’s deputy commander, Lt. Gen. Joel Vowell, attended the ceremony aboard the Adelaide.
The 750-foot-long landing helicopter dock and its sister ship, HMAS Canberra, are designed for amphibious operations and can deploy helicopters and landing craft. Each displaces 27,500 tons at full load.
The kickoff coincides with a visit to China by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. There, he is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping as Australia seeks to balance its alliance with the U.S. and relations with its largest export market.
Over the next three weeks, troops will train across Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, the Northen Territory and Christmas Island. For the first time, activities will extend beyond Australia to Papua New Guinea, the release said.
Jones said the exercise provides an unrivaled opportunity for nations to train together across land, air, sea, space and cyber domains.
“Exercise Talisman Sabre remains a powerful demonstration of Australia’s enduring commitment to strengthening relationships between trusted allies and partners, in support of a peaceful, stable and sovereign Indo-Pacific,” he said in the release.
On Monday, forces from the U.S., Australia, France, Japan, Singapore and South Korea are slated to conduct a live-fire demonstration at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, north of Rockhampton in Queensland.
The event is set to include live-fire from fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, and surface-to-air missile systems, according to the Combined Joint Information Bureau, which includes public affairs officials from the U.S., Australia and 10 other nations involved in the drills.
Other nations participating in Talisman Sabre include Canada, Fiji, Germany, India, Indonesia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, Tonga and the United Kingdom. Malaysia and Vietnam are attending as observers.
The exercise will include field training, force preparation, amphibious landings, ground maneuvers, air combat and maritime operations, according to the release. It will also feature Australia’s new UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and the precision strike missile.
“Exercises like Talisman Sabre allow us to employ war winning capabilities, operate in critical locations, signal our multinational resolve, and galvanize our collective will,” Vowell said in the release. “This is how we generate deterrence and work towards our ultimate goal: no war.”
