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U.S., Allies Rehearse Simultaneous Amphibious Landings

A US Navy Touchdown Craft, Air Cushion comes ashore July 24, 2025, at Langham Seaside in Stanage Bay with a cargo of joint gentle tactical automobiles belonging to the thirty first MEU. (Gordon Arthur picture)

ROCKHAMPTON, Australia – The U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Group 7 and three allied nations rehearsed simultaneous amphibious landings throughout this 12 months’s Talisman Sabre train to simulate the unified protection of the primary island chain towards a possible adversary like China.

The U.S. teamed with Australia, South Korea and Japan to conduct a serious amphibious assault, an amphibious raid, floor warfare fight operations, and strike warfare on coaching areas throughout coastal Australia throughout the multinational train, which started July 13.

The U.S. Navy’s amphibious contribution to Talisman Sabre 2025 centered on flagship USS America (LHA-6) and the mixed pressure of Expeditionary Strike Group 7 (ESG-7) embarked with the thirty first Marine Expeditionary Unit.

“Its real looking and rising multi-domain capabilities drove innovation and experimentation to tell future pressure growth and protection expertise,” Rear Admiral Tom Shultz, the commander of ESG-7, mentioned of his group’s actions throughout the Australian conflict video games.

The head train noticed Amphibious Job Group 1 land at Freshwater Seaside within the Shoalwater Bay Coaching Space in central Queensland, whereas Amphibious Job Group 2 got here ashore in Stanage Bay farther north. The latter group featured the U.S. and Japan touchdown aspect by aspect. The drills, Shultz mentioned, included planning and execution efforts, in addition to army operations at sea, within the air, area, cyber and ashore.

Moreover, the U.S. Marine Corps third Assault Amphibious Battalion employed Amphibious Fight Autos for the foremost amphibious assault, marking the primary time the 8-by-8 amphibious automobiles drove on Australian soil. It was additionally the primary time the thirty first MEU employed the ACV personnel variants within the Indo-Pacific area outdoors of coaching in Okinawa. The ACV’s operational debut within the Indo-Pacific occurred final 12 months when the fifteenth MEU fielded them in Train Balikatan within the Philippines.

“We embraced cooperation and interoperability throughout Train Talisman Sabre, which was demonstrated by our direct operations with 14 ships and expeditionary forces from six totally different nations. By making it our major focus, we improved our potential to work along with our allies and associate nations to construct on our collective strengths,” Shultz mentioned.

Below Shultz’s command as a part of ESG-7 have been Amphibious Squadron 11 (PHIBRON-11) and Destroyer Squadron 7 (DESRON-7); the amphibious assault ship USS America; the dock touchdown ship USS Rushmore (LSD-47); the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD-22); the expeditionary sea base USS John L. Canley (ESB-6); touchdown craft from Naval Seaside Unit 7 (NBU-7); a detachment of MH-60S helicopters from the “Island Knights” of HSC-25; and the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG-76) from DESRON-15.

A CH-47JA Chinook helicopter from the Japan Floor Self-Protection Power takes off from the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6), flagship of the America Strike Group, whereas conducting flight operations throughout Talisman Sabre 25, July 23, 2025. US Navy picture

Through the Australian drills, ESG-7 performed operations from John L. Canley and multilateral group sails by means of Hydrographer’s Passage and Capricorn Channel, in response to Shultz.

“We discovered that, whereas Train Talisman Sabre careworn our capabilities, it was completely definitely worth the effort to work by, with and thru our allies and companions to construct our mixed potential to make sure a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Shultz mentioned.

In what was an enormous present of pressure, these amphibious lodgments put forces ashore to behave as pincers of a blocking pressure, whereas a separate motorized pressure moved in to defeat the “crimson pressure” from the fictional Individuals’s Republic of Olvana.

In accordance with the U.S. Military’s wargaming software – Decisive Motion Coaching Atmosphere – Olvana is a communist nation that resembles China. The notional enemy is positioned in jap Asia and borders three main our bodies of water: the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. An accompanying map of Olvana reveals it occupying the territory of contemporary China.

China, described by the U.S. because the pacing menace, is a high safety concern in protection planners’ minds. Chinese language aggression towards Taiwan represents a critical flashpoint within the Indo-Pacific area.

“Train Talisman Sabre advances a free and open Indo-Pacific by offering a possibility to execute mixed, joint built-in fight coaching. It strengthens {our relationships} and interoperability amongst key allies and enhances our collective capabilities to reply to a big selection of potential safety considerations,” Shultz mentioned.

As a part of American deterrence, the blue-green group of ESG-7 and the thirty first MEU “play an instrumental position in defending the safety, freedom and prosperity within the Indo-Pacific area,” Shultz mentioned.

“The thirty first MEU-America Amphibious Prepared Group group brings a cohesive Navy-Marine Corps combined-arms presence to the area, the place they’re capable of function from the land, air or at sea. They’re prepared to reply throughout a spread of army operations to ship decisive, built-in American naval energy,” Shultz mentioned.

American and Japanese amphibious troops work collectively in Australia to oppose forces of the fictional Individuals’s Republic of Olvana on July 24, 2025. (Gordon Arthur picture)

All advised, Talisman Sabre introduced collectively 40,000 personnel from 19 nations, making this 12 months the biggest iteration but. When the Australia-led train kicked off in 2005, it was a bilateral drill that included solely the U.S. and round 16,000 troops.

“Bringing 19 nations collectively, with totally different languages, processes, procedures and tools, is at all times a problem. That mentioned, the US has longstanding relationships and a long time of expertise in coalition constructing with our closest allies and companions within the area,” Shultz mentioned. “Having this huge community of allies and companions provides our forces an uneven benefit over our regional rivals.”


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Ryan

Ryan O'Neill is a maritime enthusiast and writer who has a passion for studying and writing about ships and the maritime industry in general. With a deep passion for the sea and all things nautical, Ryan has a plan to unite maritime professionals to share their knowledge and truly connect Sea 2 Shore.

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