Personnel from seven nations combined their skills in a live fire exercise in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) on the opening day of Talisman Sabre 2023.
The live fire event on 22 July was a multi-domain exercise which included personnel and units from the Australian Army, Japan’s Ground Self Defense Force, the United States Army and Marine Corps, the Republic of Korea Marine Corps and the French, German and New Zealand armies.
Capabilities demonstrated included sustained fire by Australian and US M777A2 155mm towed howitzers, ROK Marines K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzers and US M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), supported by USMC F-35Bs dropping live ordnance, and an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship from the US Air Force’s 17th Special Operations Squadron.
The two M777A2 guns and personnel from the 107th Battery of the 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery at Townsville were flown into the exercise area off HMAS Adelaide by Army Aviation CH-47F Chinook helicopters.
Joint Terminal Attack Control and support was provided by the German Army’s 31st Airborne Infantry Regiment, together with French and New Zealand Defence Force units.
Unfortunately, a planned demonstration of the JGSDF’s Type 03 Chū-SAM Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) did not occur during the main exercise, but a live fire demonstration did go ahead later in the day.
Earlier on the same day, a live-firing of the JGSDF’s Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile (SSM) had taken place in the Beecroft Weapons Range in NSW.
“This is an important part of the (Talisman Sabre) exercise in the sense that it tests our coordination, so whilst you’ve seen our weapons systems fire, what you haven’t seen behind the scenes is the multi-national Command and Control and coordination; and the targeting and planning that comes with being able to execute it,” Lieutenant General Greg Bilton, Chief of Joint Operations explained at the conclusion of the serial.
“Much of the learning happens before the weapons system is even fired, you are training to get effects onto a target to neutralise it in multiple domains. The countries were sharing targeting data right across, so four different forward observers identifying targets, four different gun elements, combining their information (and) combining their effects.”
Australian Defence planners were also able to glimpse into the future during the event as both HIMARS and the K9 Thunder (to be known locally as the AS9 Redback) are being acquired to enhance Army’s long-range strike capabilities.
The Republic of Korea Marine Corps has also deployed its K239 Chunmoo self-propelled multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) – a competitor of the US HIMARS – to Talisman Sabre 2023, but its capabilities were not demonstrated during the live fire event.