Exercise Talisman Sabre will return to Central Queensland in July 2023

One of the biggest military exercises in the country will return to Central Queensland this year with thousands of troops from across the globe landing on our shores in the coming months.

Thousands of troops from a number of different countries will participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre in 2023.

Central Queensland will host thousands of military troops when exercise Talisman Sabre returns to Shoalwater Bay between Rockhampton and Mackay in July.

About 30,000 military personnel from across the globe will participate in this year’s exercise, with the numbers almost double of to those from the last in 2021.

Significantly, 2023 marks the 10th iteration of Talisman Sabre, which is the largest bilateral training activity between the Australian Defence Force and the United States military.

The training event is an opportunity to exercise high-end, multi-domain warfare capabilities, build and affirm military-to-military ties and interoperability, and strengthen strategic partnerships.

In the 2023 Talisman Sabre exercise a number of partner nations have been confirmed as participants including Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, France, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany.

The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will attend as observers.

The two-week training exercise will include large scale logistics, multi-domain firepower demonstrations, land combat, amphibious landings and air operations.

Some of the training will take place at the Shoalwater Bay training area, north of Rockhampton.

Talisman Sabre Exercise director Brigadier Damian Hill said this year’s training exercise would be the “largest ever” in terms of both geographic span and partner nation involvement.

“Considerable planning has gone into a safe and productive exercise for all participants,” he said.

“This year’s exercise will demonstrate our ability to receive large volumes of personnel and equipment into Australia from across the Indo-Pacific and stage, integrate and move them forward into the large exercise area.”

“Talisman Sabre 2023 will be held across a range of Defence and non-Defence training areas across northern Australia and I thank the traditional owners, landowners, state authorities, and key community stakeholders who have helped us develop a safe and productive exercise for all participating nations.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said Talisman Sabre was a “practical demonstration” of Australia’s alliance with the USA.

“Australia is excited to host what will be the largest ever iteration of Talisman Sabre this year, involving more of our partner nations than ever before,” he said.

“Talisman Sabre reflects a shared commitment to enduring relationships between trusted partners, and a stable Indo-Pacific through an upholding of the rules-based order.”

Talisman Sabre 2023 will run from July 22 to August 4 primarily in Queensland but also in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales.