Largest US-Australian drill kicks off aboard USS Ronald Reagan

Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019, the largest Australian-US bilateral exercise, was held in the Port of Brisbane on July 7, on the USS Ronald Reagan.

Australian defense minister Linda Reynolds CSC said the exercise was designed to enhance combat readiness and interoperability between the Australian and United States armed forces.

“Exercise Talisman Sabre will involve more than 34,000 personnel from Australia and the United States,” minister Reynolds said.

“Forces from Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom will be embedded alongside Australian Defence Force personnel, and delegations from India and the Republic of Korea will observe the exercise. Eighteen nations from across the Indo-Pacific region have also been invited to an international visitors program.”

The majority of Talisman Sabre 2019 activities will take place in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area and surrounding State Forests, near Rockhampton.

Other events will occur around Stanage Bay and the Capricorn Coast, Whitsunday region, Mackay region, Bundaberg and surrounding region, the Townsville Field Training Area and the Evans Head Air Weapons Range in NSW.