Talisman Sabre details revealed ahead Australian Defence Force’s largest ever military drill

Australia will host one of the largest military drills in the world with more than 30,000 personnel and dozens of ships, aircraft and armoured vehicles mobilising.

Exclusive: Australia will host one of the largest military drills in the world with more than 30,000 personnel and dozens of ships, aircraft and armoured vehicles mobilising from across the region.

Such is the size of the Talisman Sabre 2023 exercise, the “battlefield” has been extended from across the top of Australia to swathes of the Coral Sea down as far south to Jervis Bay in NSW and will even involve Norfolk Island.

The biennial two-week exercise has long been one of the largest Australian Defence Force hosted exercises, run largely with the United States military and involving 17,000 troops.

Military forces from at least four nations invaded Forrest Beach as part of operation Talisman Sabre 2021 in Hinchinbrook Shire, North Queensland. Picture: Cameron Bates

But with the backdrop of Russia’s mass troop assault on Ukraine and China’s coercive posturing and recent show of force about Taiwan, personnel numbers have doubled with more than 12 allied nations including Germany, France and the UK to participate.

Many of the fictional scenarios to be rehearsed are based about Russia and China’s posturing, notably the Kremlin’s land and air war strategy that spectacularly failed to capture the Ukrainian capital.

ADF Private Steffani Grace competes in a fitness competition during Talisman Sabre 2021. Picture: Lance Corporal Ujian Gosun

Talisman will involve an airborne drop, mass amphibious landings, live missile firing and submarine hunting; the battle field stretching from Western Australia, across the NT and Queensland and as far south as Jervis Bay in NSW.

Curiously India has yet to commit to joining Talisman Sabre 2023, despite signalling interest two years ago and early last month Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing the “top tier security partner” would participate for the first time.

USS America (left) and HMAS Ballarat conduct a replenishment at sea off the coat of Queensland, during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021. Picture: LSIS Ernesto Sanchez

In details to be released by the government today, confirmed participants include Fiji,

Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga,

France, UK, Canada and Germany.

The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will attend as observers. China was not invited but expected to send its spy ships to shadow operations.

“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,” Defence Minister Richard Marles said.

Brigadier Damian Hill said this year’s drill will be its largest iteration. Picture: Tim Hunter.

TS23 Exercise Director, Brigadier Damian Hill said it was the largest iteration of the exercise in terms of both geographic span and also partner nation involvement.

“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,” he said.

According to planning, locations were chosen to provide “a realistic test of how a large military force would flow into a broad area of operations”.

The ADF will make up one third of the 30,000 personnel involved in the two week exercise.

Anthony Albanese with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. India will join Talisman Sabre for the first time in 2023. Picture: AFP

Quick breakdown of Talisman Sabre 2023

• More than 30,000 personnel to participate from at least 12 nations.

• Designed to test multinational and joint (multi-service) Task Force operations, improve combat readiness and interoperability between Australian, US forces and other partner nations.

• Held between 22 July and 4 August.

• QLD:

– An airborne drop of troops near Charters Towers and amphibious landings at various locations along the north and central Queensland coast.

– Maritime mine-hunting off the coast of Gladstone.

– RAAF Base Scherger at Cape York Peninsula will play central role.

• NSW

– Long-range fire exercises in Jervis Bay with Japan Self-Defense Forces.

– Air, ground and maritime exercises in Norfolk Island.

• NT:

– Force projection and logistic exercises in the vicinity of Darwin.

– Larger warships will participate in naval gunnery and submarine hunting exercises.