AFP, Sydney: US and Australian military forces were preparing to stage their largest joint exercise for four years Tuesday, in an operation commanders from both sides said demonstrated the close ties between the long-time allies.
More than 11,000 US and 6,000 Australian service personnel will take part in Exercise Talisman Saber off the Queensland state coast from June 8 to the end of the month.
Talisman Saber's commander, US Vice Admiral Jonathan Greenert, said the training programme with Australia was the largest bilateral exercise undertaken by the US military.
He said the cooperation between Australia and the United States had already paid dividends in the swift response to the December 26 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.
“Australia is a strong ally and a very special partner in the Pacific,” he told reporters aboard the US Seventh Fleet command vessel USS Blue Ridge in Sydney Harbour.
“Our strong partnerships and established cooperation over the years between our military forces and civilian organisations were key to the effective response to the tsunami tragedy.”
The exercise's deputy commander, Australia's Major-General Mark Kelly, said the emphasis of Talisman Saber would be improving the “inter-operability” between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and their US counterparts.
“Recent history suggests that future ADF warfighting operations are likely to be conducted as part of a coalition,” he said.
“For such operations to be successful, a high degree of coordination, communication and cooperation is absolutely essential.”
The exercise will revolve around a series of fictional scenarios involving all aspects of the military, from special forces operations to humanitarian relief work.
Kelly said the Australian navy's Sea King helicopters would not take part in the exercise as they were being gradually returned to full service after being grounded following a crash that killed nine service personnel on the quake-hit Indonesian island of Nias in April 2.
