Talisman Sabre military exercise kicks off in Australia

The exercise is designed to demonstrate the broad collaboration among the participating countries. Additionally, it appears to be aimed at monitoring China, which is intensifying its military activities in the Indo-Pacific region.

At a news conference in Sydney, Lt Gen Joel Vowell, deputy commanding general of the US Army Pacific, said that participating countries are working together with an aim to build quick response capabilities and effective deterrence.

Asked about the possibility of the Chinese military coming to surveil the Talisman Sabre exercise, Vice Adm Justin Jones, chief of joint operations at the Australian military, said, "It is fully expected." Chinese moves are being constantly monitored, he added.

Talisman Sabre is held every two years. The ongoing exercise is the 11th of its kind.

Amphibious operation training and missile test-firing are planned as part of the exercise, set to run until early August.

Last September, China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the South Pacific. In February this year, the country conducted a live-fire drill involving warships off eastern Australia, further heightening tensions in the region.

The participating countries in the 2025 Talisman Sabre also include India, which forms the Quad framework with Japan, the United States and Australia, as well as South Korea, the Philippines, Canada, Britain and France.

Part of the exercise will be carried out in Papua New Guinea, a Pacific island country, for the first time.

From Japan, about 1,500 Self-Defence Forces members and three SDF ships, including the Ise helicopter destroyer, will participate in the biennial exercise.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]