Talisman Sabre, a multinational military exercise involving 19 countries, including the United States, kicked off on Monday in a show of force aimed at sending a clear message to Beijing, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This year marks the 11th, and largest, Talisman Sabre yet, with around 40,000 troops taking part in the exercise. Alongside the U.S. are Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, India, and several European allies. What began as a regional training drill has hardened into a key pillar of Washington’s strategy to deter China from invading Taiwan.
Vice Admiral Justin Jones, chief of joint operations for Australia’s military, said:
The fact that we have 19 nations participating this year in Exercise Talisman Sabre tells you that we’re all in search of a common goal, which is stability, a free and open Indo-Pacific and adherence to international law.
The exercise comes as China has consistently become more aggressive around Taiwan and other U.S. allies in recent years. They have repeatedly conducted live-fire navy drills near Australia and have sent Chinese warships near Japanese islands.
Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, who leads the U.S. Army’s I Corps, said China’s increasingly blatant aggression, testing the waters to gauge how far it can push, has driven more countries to join multinational military exercises. The goal, he said, is to make clear that they’ll show up when it counts—and that deterrence, if it’s going to work, has to be collective.
Talisman Sabre is meant to further test the capabilities of the U.S. and its allies, including firing key land-based ballistic missiles crucial to defending sea lanes around Taiwan. Furthermore, drone systems over both land and sea will be put through their paces, reflecting just how central unmanned warfare has become to modern combat.
China has in the past sent ships to spy on the training exercise; they are expected to do the same this year.
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