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2021-09-01

Talisman Sabre Ends after Intensive Training, Complex Manoeuvres

Talisman Sabre 2021 (TS21), one of Australia’s largest bilateral defence exercises with the United States, concluded recently in Townsville after three weeks of intensive training and complex manoeuvres across three states, involving 17,000 military personnel from seven nations.

TS21, the ninth iteration of the exercises, consisted of a Field Training Exercise incorporating force preparation (logistic) activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvre, urban operations, air combat and maritime operations.

Occurring every two years, the drill is designed to test the respective forces in planning and conducting Combined and Joint Task Force operations and improve the combat readiness and interoperability between Australian and U.S. forces.

The military forces from participating nations tested their abilities to operate together across the traditional operating domains of sea, land, and air, as well as on the new frontiers of information/cyber and space.

COVID-19 Effect

While COVID-19 reduced personnel numbers, it added to the complexity and the ability of all nations to plan complicated manoeuvres while protecting the health and safety of their forces.

This year’s exercise included some of the most realistic and challenging training activities yet, spreading even further across Queensland than in previous years.

Personnel from Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the United Kingdom worked, trained and fought side by side.

In the first few days of the exercise, each nation focused on foundational training to get the multinational forces reading from the same playbook.

Sailors, soldiers, and aviators of each nation made brief introductions, brushed up on their skills and took the first steps on what would become a steep learning experience.

Within days, they were live-firing – a symbol of the action set to play out on the battlefield.

In a first for Australia, the U.S. Army launched the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missiles at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area on July 16.

The next two days involved a barrage of munitions from land, air, and sea, culminating in an awesome display by the U.S. High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

Not only spectacular to watch, the live-fire activities ultimately showed that the forces of the seven nations could operate as one to produce a coordinated result.

Things ramped up again in the second week with the collective training; engineers paired with infantry, explosive detection dogs alongside amphibious elements; and Special Forces worked in the air and in the shadows.

At sea, the air and maritime assets engaged in high-end warfare training above and below the waves off the Queensland coast.

Separately, a U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bomber joined the latest Australian aircraft in a simulated long-range strike.

In the third week, the combined forces orchestrated all of these moving pieces in a complex opposed scenario involving real Queensland communities like Bowen, Ingham and Cairns.

Forces in the community fought their way through a scenario designed to test their skills at the highest level.

Inland, Alaskan paratroopers embarked in a C-17A Globemaster in Darwin to drop onto farmland thousands of kilometres away in Charters Towers.

The cyber and information warfare operators too sharpened their skills. Just like the real world, the exercise scenario was tested through simulated social media and traditional media.

Flying High

There were quite a few firsts for Air Force during TS21, from the transfer of fuel from a United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft to the deployment of mobile aircraft arrestors.

A USAF aircraft crew transferred fuel to a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft in a forward arming and refuelling point (FARP) operation for the first time when a USAF MC-130J Commando II crew refuelled a RAAF C-130J Hercules during the exercise.

Air Force’s No. 37 Squadron practised the fuel transfer at RAAF Base Tindal.

In a real-world scenario, FARP operations allow aircraft like the Hercules to land at a forward airbase and provide essential services, including refuelling and re-arming of aircraft.

Commanding Officer No.37 Squadron Wing Commander Anthony Kay said establishing a FARP at a remote airfield in Australia or throughout the Indo-Pacific region was an important capability for joint operations because it added flexibility and range to force projection.

Meanwhile, once the bare base RAAF Base Scherger was declared operational during Talisman Sabre, a mobile aircraft arrestor system (MAAS) was deployed for the first time.

The MAAS has a strong cable, suspended just above the runway, to hook and stop landing jets.

Frigate Kept Busy

Defending a large task group comprising five nations was a challenge for one Australian warship – but with the assistance of her embarked helicopter, it was a successful mission.

HMAS Parramatta joined forces with warships from Canada, Japan, South Korea and the U.S. to conduct high-end warfighting serials as part of the drill.

Among the frigate’s tasks were anti-submarine warfare drills, where Parramatta deployed its embarked MH-60R helicopter, which goes by the call sign Carnage, to pinpoint submarines below surface using its sonar-dipping capabilities.

Commanding Officer Parramatta Commander Anita Nemarich said the MH-60R, from No. 816 Squadron’s Flight 4, HMAS Albatross in Nowra, NSW, its flight crew and maintenance support team played a significant role in the operation.

In another activity, Air Force radar and satellite systems were an important capability tested during Exercise TS21.

Personnel from No. 3 Control and Reporting Unit, based at RAAF Base Williamtown, and No. 114 Mobile Control and Reporting Unit, based at RAAF Base Darwin, deployed air surveillance and tactical air defence radar capabilities in support of the exercise.

Key Developments

Some of the highlights of TS21 included:

• Australia welcomed the Republic of Korea as a participating nation for the first time. Their Destroyer, ‘ROKS Wang Geon,’ contributed to a maritime warfare scenario involving around 20 ships and 60 aircraft.

• 120 Spartan Paratroopers from Alaska embarked in two Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III aircraft in Darwin and jumped over the skies of Charters Towers to join Australian land forces.

• Amphibious forces from Australia, United States, Japan and the United Kingdom operated from the same ship (HMAS Canberra) for the first time as an integrated landing force.

• U.S. Space Command deployed to Australia for Exercise Talisman Sabre for the first time. This team exercised important new capabilities in the space domain.

Locations Covered

TS21 exercise activities took place in inland Queensland including Hughenden, the Charters Towers region, ADF Townsville Field Training Area (TFTA), Atherton and Mareeba coastal locations including Bundaberg, Stanage Bay peninsular, ADF Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA), Bowen, Proserpine, Ingham region, Lucinda, Forest Beach, ADF Cowley Beach Training Area (CBTA), Innisfail, Cairns and RAAF Scherger, as well as Evans Head in New South Wales (NSW).

Townsville saw increased military presence over this time, mainly at Lavarack Barracks and RAAF Townsville, and on the roads between there and Charters Towers.

Shared Vision

TS21 Exercise Director Air Commodore Stuart Bellingham and his U.S. counterpart Colonel Jerry Hall were at the forefront of the planning and execution of the exercise right from its beginning.

“I’m extremely proud that this year’s Talisman Sabre directly contributed to advancing the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” Colonel Hall said. “We want people to be free, we want free trade, to sail, fly anywhere in the Indo-Pacific region without having to worry about the security situation. That is our shared vision and why we work together.”

Air Commodore Bellingham echoed this sentiment, highlighting the big success stories. “TS21 has been a tremendous success,” he said. “I applaud what our international forces have been able to accomplish together in the three weeks.”

Commander Deployable Joint Force Headquarters, Major General Jake Ellwood’s words aptly summed up the outcome of the drill. “The exercise tested the strength and resilience of participating nations.”

Reference Text/Photo:

www1.defence.gov.au

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