USS America and other foreign battle ships head to town ahead of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025
One of the US Navy’s largest amphibious assault ships has been spotted off the coast of Queensland on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of the start of the Exercise Talisman Sabre.
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One of the US Navy’s largest amphibious assault ships has been spotted off the coast of Queensland during what is likely its final visit to Australia.
The USS America has been carrying out training drills off the coast of Shoalwater Bay, outside of Rockhampton in Central Queensland for the past week, ahead of the start of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 on Sunday.
Sunshine Coast based photographer Doug Bazley, 65, of Bluey’s Photography, spotted the flagship of the US Seventh Fleet’s America Strike Group off the coast of Caloundra just after midday Wednesday on its way into Brisbane.
“It’s always exciting to see the Navy, whether it be American or Australian,” he said.
“It’s always a thrill to see an aircraft carrier, you could see all the choppers and aircraft on board.
“Everybody is always so excited to see them come past, it’s a spectacle because they’re so close here at Caloundra.
“We don’t see them often, so it always gets people out on the balcony or footpath snapping at them.”
The Port of Brisbane confirmed the arrival of USS America, as well as USS San Diego and USS Rushmore for a port visit on Thursday.
“We’re pleased to welcome the USS America, USS San Diego and USS Rushmore to Brisbane for a port visit,” a statement issued by the Port of Brisbane read.
More than 30,000 personnel from a record 23 allied countries – including three observer nations – are expected to take part in TS25, the largest multinational, multiservice military training exercise in the southern hemisphere.
Bilaterally designed between the Australian Defence Force and the US, TS25 is scheduled to be held throughout Queensland, parts of Australia and – for the first time – in Papua New Guinea, from July 13-August 4.
It is the third time in six years the 257m-long USS America, which carries fighter jets and tiltrotor aircraft such as MV22-Ospreys, has visited Queensland for Talisman Sabre.
The crew of about 3000 US sailors and Marines – mostly from the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit – were not permitted to leave the ship during its first visit to the Sunshine State in 2021, due to the then-ongoing Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
A detachment from the Iwakuni-based Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242 is also on board.
The landing helicopter assault (LHA 6)-class vessel is designed to accommodate the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters – or stealth multirole combat jets – as well as a combination of rescue, combat and support helicopters.
Some of the military choppers include CH-53E Super Stallions, AH-1Z Super Cobras and UH-1Y Venoms – also known as Super Hueys.
The USS America, along with the USS Rushmore and USS San Diego, stopped into Sydney for a port visit in June, with all three vessels currently in Brisbane.
The lead ship of the Seventh Fleet’s Amphibious Ready Group has been operating mostly off the coast of Queensland since leaving Sydney.
It is scheduled to return to the US, where it will be stationed at Naval Base San Diego in California, after having been based in Sasebo, Japan since 2019.
Its replacement in Japan, the USS Tripoli, arrived in Sasebo on June 23.
The USS America is among the first of more than 20 Australian and foreign war ships that have started arriving in Queensland and around Australia in preparation for TS25, the largest military training exercise in the southern hemisphere bilaterally designed between the ADF and US.
It is among the first of a handful of ships and other naval vessels that have been spotted off the coast of Queensland in the past fortnight.
Others have included Royal Australian Navy submarine, the HMAS Farncomb, which quietly slipped into Brisbane between 9am-10.30am on July 4.
Usually based at Fleet Base West on Garden Island, outside of Perth in Western Australia, the HMAS Farncomb is one of the RAN’s six Collins Class submarines.
The Republic of Korea Navy’s 14,5000-tonne ROKS Marado amphibious assault ship also visited the Port of Gladstone for about 24 hours on July 2.
Commissioned in 2021 the 199.4m long Dokdo-class Landing Platform Helicopter ship is one of the South Korean Navy’s largest warships.
The ROKS Marado can carry a minimum of 330 sailors, a battalion of up to 720 Marines and different types of helicopters, including two MV-22 Ospreys.
It is the third time the South Korean, or ROK Forces, have participated after first doing so during TS21.
Some of the ROK sailors and Marines are also on board the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin class guided missile destroyer, the 4,500-tonne ROKS Wang Geon, which can carry about 200 personnel on board.
It is the fourth time the 150m long South Korean ship has participated in Talisman Sabre, including being present as an observer only during Talisman Sabre 2019.
The Royal New Zealand Navy ship, Her Majesty’s New Zealand Ship (HMNZS) Canterbury, also stopped into Townsville on June 27, before departing on July 3.
Royal Australian Navy destroyer, HMAS Sydney, joined the United Kingdom’s Carrier Strike Group 25 (CSG 25) group in late June and will remain integrated with them throughout TS25.
SHIP SPOTTERS DELIGHT
The Courier Mail understands this year’s Talisman Sabre will see up to 30 Australian and foreign Navy ships, submarines and other support vessels, along with about 70 different types of aircraft participating around the country.
Several of the other participating nations sending battleships include New Zealand, Norway, Canada, the UK and Japan.
Despite repeated enquiries, the ADF are yet to confirm how many other RAN ships are taking part in TS25.
New Zealand
In early June, the New Zealand Defence Force announced the Royal New Zealand Navy would send the 131m-long HMNZS Canterbury and the HMNZS Te Kaha as part of their naval contribution to TS25.
A multi-role vessel, the Canterbury can accommodate up to 365 people on board, while the 118m-long Te Kaha, an Anzac-class frigate, carries 178 personnel.
Norway, the United Kingdom and Canada
About 200 Norwegian Navy sailors attached to the UK’s Carrier Strike Group 25 mark Norway’s first ever involvement with the war games.
About 120 sailors are aboard the Royal Norwegian Navy supply vessel, the KNM Roald Amundsen.
The 5,290-tonne, 134m long, Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate, also known as His Norwegian Majesty’s Ship (HNoMS) Roald Amundsen, has been travelling with the British strike group since April.
Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Sydney joined the carrier strike group in late June and will remain integrated throughout TS25.
An international formation of warships, submarines and aircraft, the CSG25 is led by the British Royal Navy’s flagship, the HMS Prince of Wales, on the Royal Navy’s first major deployment to the Indo-Pacific region since 2021.
The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier departed the UK on April 22 to begin Operation Highmast, an eight month deployment to about 40 allied countries across the world that will also take in TS25 in Australia.
The HMS Prince of Wales started out with about 2500 military personnel deployed from four nations, according to a British Royal Navy statement released in April.
“The deployment begins with around 2,500 military personnel comprising sailors, Marines, soldiers and aviators from across the UK and allied armed forces,” the statement read.
“The numbers include roughly 2,100 Britons, 200 Norwegians and a similar number of Canadians, and Spanish – rising to over 4,500 for some of the key exercises as the force reaches the Indo-Pacific.”
Chief of Joint Operations, RAN Vice Admiral Justin Jones, said the Prince of Wales joining TS25 marked the first time a non-US aircraft carrier had participated in the exercise.
It was also the first Royal Navy aircraft carrier to visit Australian waters since 1997, according to an Australian Department of Defence release.
Besides the Roald Amundsen, the 65,000 tonne warship has also mostly been accompanied by the HMS Dauntless, HMS Richmond, Spanish frigate ESPS Méndez Núñez and Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Québec since departing England.
A British Ministry of Defence spokeswoman told the Courier Mail the CSG25 would be based off the NT coast, outside of Darwin, for TS25.
She said a total of about 2,200 UK personnel were sent to Australia, with the majority part of the strike group.
“The rest are additional, army, air force, Royal Marines, personnel deployed for Exercise Talisman Sabre,” she said.
They would be deployed around Australia, but particularly in the Darwin and Shoalwater Bay areas, she said.
Japan
In April, the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) announced five ships, supported by submarines and a patrol aircraft, would be part of the country’s Indo-Pacific Deployment, which comprises several different military exercises around the world, including TS25.
The ships listed included the JS Osumi, an Osumi-class tank landing ship, the JS Ise, a Hyuga-class helicopter destroyer, the JS Suzanami, a Takanami-class destroyer, the JS Aekbono, a Murasame-class destroyer and the JS Yahagi, a Mogami-class stealth frigate, which stopped in Darwin in June.
It is yet to be confirmed if all five ships will be participating in TS25.
This year, the ADF’s largest bilaterally-led, combined training exercise with the US will see Armed Forces from 19 countries actively participating in the mock war games – with another three nations attending as observers – making it the largest multinational military training exercise in the southern hemisphere for the second time.
Besides Australia and the US, allied nations partaking in TS25 include PNG, Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Tonga, and the United Kingdom.
Servicemen and women from the Netherlands, the Republic of the Philippines, Norway, Thailand, Singapore and India are participating for the first time, while representatives from Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam are scheduled for inaugural visits as official observers.
Now in its 11th iteration, Exercise Talisman Sabre started in 2005 as a bilateral training exercise between only the ADF and US militaries.
The training was then-mostly contained to the ADF’s 454,500 hectare Shoalwater Bay training area in Byfield, about 80km north of Rockhampton in Central Queensland, as well as in adjacent maritime and airspace areas of the Coral Sea.
This year, the majority of the battle drills are anticipated to be carried out throughout different parts of Queensland and in the Coral Sea, with some also occurring in the Northern Territory, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and – for the first time – on Christmas Island, about 2600km from Perth in the Indian Ocean.
Exercise Talisman Sabre is a multilaterally planned and conducted undertaking and will comprise field training exercises incorporating force preparation activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvres, maritime and air combat operations as well as a live fire exercise.
The aim of the massive exercise is to improve combined joint warfighting capability and interoperability, with the focus this year on multi-domain warfighting.
– Iwan Jones contributed to this report
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