Patriot missile to be fired for the first time in Australia today as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre
US forces are scheduled to fire a Patriot missile for the first time in Australia at Queensland’s Shoalwater Bay on Friday.
QLD News
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The US Army will fire a Patriot missile in Australia for the first time today.
The live firing exercise, part of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 (TS21), Australia’s largest biennial training collaboration with the US happening now through to August 1, is scheduled to take place in part of the restricted Shoalwater Bay Military Training area in Byfield, outside of Rockhampton.
Commander of the Australian Defence Force’s Deployable Joint Force Headquarters, Army Major General Jake Ellwood, said it would be the first time a Patriot missile had been fired in the nation.
The weapon is equipped with a track-via-missile guidance system, meaning it can receive course corrections while it’s mid-flight.
A long-range, all-weather and altitude air defence system, the Patriot is designed to counter cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles and aircraft.
With a 90kg warhead attached and a 70km range, several hostile surface-to-surface missiles were destroyed by US Forces using Patriot missiles during the 2003 Iraq conflict.
It is understood the missile will be targeting a pair of drone targets, or unmanned aerial vehicles at TS21.
The live fire exercise will also include other High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.
The ninth iteration of Talisman Sabre, involving 17,000 personnel along with military ships and aircraft, was opened with a ceremony at the Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberley, near Ipswich, on Wednesday.
Major General Ellwood said the high-end war fighting exercise was designed to enhance the interoperability between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the US Armed Forces, with five other nations now also participating on a smaller scale.
“Exercise Talisman Sabre reflects the strength of the Australia-US Alliance and the close and enduring nature of our military-to-military relationship,” he said.
“It is a powerful demonstration of the breadth and depth of the Alliance, which includes strong people-to-people links, world-leading capability innovation, and highly interoperable forces.”
The fictitious scenario comprises coalition forces advancing as part of a campaign to defeat an ‘enemy force’ operating along the northeastern coastline.
The land component of the mock war, which will work in conjunction with amphibious, maritime and air support, will focus on a combined Australian-US effort to destroy the enemy that has gained a foothold of and is defending key terrain.
The peak of the mock war-games are scheduled to take place in Shoalwater Bay, Townsville Bowen and in the waters off the coast, though the full exercise extends from Weipa down to Evans Head in NSW.
TS21 incorporates force preparation activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvre, urban operations, and air combat and maritime operations.
It also provides an opportunity for military aircrew to test interoperability with other foreign militaries and combat readiness in the form of high-end, air-power missions.
The operation has been downsized from the more than 34,000 troops involved with TS19, because of the global coronavirus pandemic, with thousands of foreign military service members having to complete a fortnight of quarantine and undergo Covid testing.
Men and women from the UK, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and, for the first time, the Republic of Korea are also joining in on the action.
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