“This is the first rotation in the 15-year history of the program to be certified as a MAGTF, and that’s a big deal,” Col. George Flynn, commanding officer of MRF-D 2026, explained to Defense News.

Flynn noted that being certified validates the MAGTF’s credibility and proficiency because, if called upon, a commander “knows the force is going to be able to accomplish all those tasks it’s assigned as part of its task order to facilitate operations in the theater.”

“What makes it special purpose is just the uniqueness of how it’s placed here in Darwin in support of the Pacific theater,” Flynn continued. “We’re responsible for being ready for the full spectrum of operations from full-scale combat to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.”

This certification process was completed in early May during an exercise in the Philippines, making “an incredible statement” on its ability to respond to crises.

Flynn said MRF-D is authorized to have 2,500 personnel, but he typically has around 2,000 in his SPMAGTF. They arrived in Darwin in March, with his task force including, among others, the California-based 1/5 Marines and MV-22B Ospreys from the Hawaii-based VMM-268.

High tempo

Flynn pointed out that “the Marine Corps, we always seek to deploy”.

MRF-D has maintained a heavy operational tempo, with the commander saying personnel had traveled to six or seven different countries to date.

“We’re busy, but Marines are having a great time. For this deployment, we’ve had 13 planned operations, activities, investments or exercises,” Flynn said. “We’ve been in the Philippines, we have forces in Indonesia right now, and we have forces that are getting ready to go to Tahiti to do training with the French. And we’ve certainly been all over the Australian continent.”

The latter includes major exercises with the Australian Army’s Darwin-based 1st Brigade and Townsville-based 3rd Brigade. Operating with the 1st Brigade is particularly helpful to both parties, since that formation now specializes in littoral warfare.

“We get to share good practices,” Flynn noted. “We have a great relationship with 1st Brigade.”

Asked about difficulties operating in such far-flung locations, often simultaneously, Flynn acknowledged, “It’s a good challenge to have. It allows us to demonstrate our ability to be distributed, and how well we can achieve operational reach throughout the region.

“I think it goes to demonstrate that, where needed, Marines can show up and provide the support that Marines are capable of providing.”

He said the SPMAGTF’s expeditionary mindset, its ability to get to locations quickly and to sustain itself, has “really been eye-watering to watch.” Flynn noted formations typically “spend their workup getting to their max level of readiness and then, once that deployment starts, that readiness starts to degrade over time.”

However, this is not the case with MRF-D, as “we have the unique ability to gain and maintain readiness throughout the deployment,” he said. This is due in part to “the expansive training areas throughout the continent that give us some wonderful opportunities to be most ready when called upon.”

Capability growth

“We have a robust C2 [command-and-control] capability down to our supporting elements as well, and we’ve been able to work with those systems and demonstrate … the ability to go up and down on different communication systems using satellite capabilities down to high-frequency capabilities and the like,” Flynn told Defense News. “At no point have I ever felt challenged with being able to command and control the force based on the capabilities that we’re working with.”

The Marine Corps continues to evolve for modern combat, too.

“Our Sec War has been adamant about increasing capabilities of the force with regards to small UAS [unmanned aerial systems] and first-person-view, one-way attack drones. We’ve had the opportunity to experiment with those systems out here, and you saw some of that at the counter-landing live-fire in the Philippines,” Flynn said. “So, we’re definitely using those. We’ve also used others like logistics-based unmanned aerial systems to facilitate movement of logistical requirements throughout the training areas here in Australia.”

However, he noted the Marine Corps “is actively still working through to increase capabilities” in counter-drone systems.

Perhaps one of the biggest helps to the SPMAGTF would be more assets for “lift and the ability to move the force around the theater,” Flynn shared.

Nevertheless, he said, “I’m beyond happy with what we’ve been able to demonstrate with our operational reach, and I think it’s just the opportunities that exist to further achieve interoperability with our allies and partners with moving the force around the theater is something that we should continue to look at going forward”.

Positive vibes

Asked about what he has gained from leading the deployment, Flynn said, “Every day, I get a chance to lead all these Marines and sailors that are under my command, and how they generally seem to understand their purpose, and they operate with happy hearts out here.

“The relationships we’ve built with the Australians and with other nations, allies and partners we’ve got a chance to work with — and just a demonstration of what it means to be a MAGTF operating in the Pacific theater — has just been really powerful for me personally.”

Flynn said MRF-D has contributed to a free and open Indo-Pacific theater.

“I think our presence, our posture and our ability to demonstrate that we can get into locations and be responsive to countries in need facilitates that free and open Indo-Pacific. All countries in this area have their own sovereignty and we respect that, and we stand by to support and protect that sovereignty as required.”

Each MRF-D deployment lasts six months. The current one ends in October, just before the wet season arrives in northern Australia.

Speaking to Defense News from the Philippines, Bartholomees confirmed that, as an original Transformation in Contact division, four of his five brigades have changed significantly already. Following his mobile infantry, artillery and sustainment brigades, he revealed the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) is “next on the docket to do some transformation.”

“The Gray Eagle company that was in Alaska is going to move to Hawaii – and what we see over time is, as the Army determines what type of larger-class unmanned aerial systems it uses, that those will land in the CAB.”

The general said longer-range drones “are essential to support the ranges that we can now shoot out to, particularly with HIMARS.”

In fact, 25th ID was the first U.S. infantry division to receive HIMARS, a weapon that greatly extends the formation’s reach compared to incumbent M777 and M119 towed howitzers. Because of HIMARS, Bartholomees pointed out his “division artillery is really what transformed the most.”

He highlighted how the “Tropic Lightning” Division performed a number of HIMARS infiltrations to Luzon Strait islands during recent Philippine wargames. Indeed, Exercises Balikatan and Salaknib allowed 25th ID to test new tactics and technologies from April to June.

The Ranger-qualified general added that the Army wants maximum flexibility in “new technologies, drones, counter-drones, electronic warfare, software-enabled technologies, and less [reliance] on a program of record that, by the time you receive it, is obsolete and you’re stuck with it for too long.”

For example, Bartholomees praised the Infantry Squad Vehicle that makes his soldiers “more lethal, light and mobile.” By increasing the mobility of his two infantry brigades, it helped shed a lot of needless vehicles. “Infantry brigades had too much stuff, too many vehicles, they were too unwieldy,” he said.

Balikatan and Salaknib were valuable to 25th ID because “you don’t really know if [equipment] is going to work until you operate with it in these environments,” Bartholomees explained.

He also highlighted the democratization of electronic-warfare capabilities across units, in addition to the transformation of communication systems. “We’re one of two divisions in the U.S. Army that’s conducting what’s called Next-Generation Command and Control,” he explained. This entails moving to smaller form factors and software-enabled systems.

Pushing new capabilities into frontline units is vital for 25th ID, especially when so far from home in places like the Philippines. “Shipping capability costs really drive forward the need for us to innovate,” he said.

One response has been the Forge, an expeditionary capability that allows soldiers to manufacture spare parts using 3D printing, for example. Bartholomees said the Forge is important “because it’s helping to thicken our sustainment lines by creating capability, creating parts and manufacturing forward where we can”.

He said 25th ID’s fielding of new technologies will continue unabated: “We’re literally transforming all the time,” although “we do have to manage how we do this, and we have to be disciplined in this approach.”

Held from Apr. 20 to May 8, Balikatan was a good testing ground for the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, or 3rd MLR.

This agile Hawaii-based unit possesses more than 2,000 personnel. Designed to operate at the tip of the Marine Corps, the MLR was created in March 2022.

1st Lt. Duncan Stoner, the unit’s director for communication strategy and, said his formation “is unlike any traditional infantry regiment in the Marine Corps. The key difference lies in our focus and our toolkit.”

To permit it to operate in dispersed locations, 3rd MLR’s headquarters oversees three subordinate elements.

The first is the 3rd Littoral Combat Team that fires Naval Strike Missiles from NMESIS (standing for Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System) missile launchers. These assets are accompanied by infantry companies for security, and this year they received attack drones for the first time.

Next up is the 3rd Littoral Anti-Air Battalion that handles air domain awareness and air defense utilizing TPS-80 radars and counter-drone systems.

Finally, the regiment possesses the 3rd Littoral Logistics Battalion to sustain operations in distributed, littoral environments.

This year’s exercise was the fourth time the regiment has participated in Balikatan, and Stoner told Defense News: “As the regiment continues to evolve, this exercise is where we validate our tactics alongside our highly capable regional allies and partners.”

Securing maritime straits

One of those tactics was maritime key terrain security operations, where the Marine Corps helped seize remote Philippine islands in the Luzon Strait. This included deployment of NMESIS sections with anti-ship missiles.

Yes, 3rd MLR deployed the NMESIS to the Batanes Islands in last year’s Balikatan, but this year that expanded dramatically to three separate islands. They inserted with the aid of Air Force C-130Js and Army LCU-2000 landing craft.

On May 2, Defense News visited one of those locations in Basco in the Batane Islands, which is closer to Taiwan than it is to the Philippine mainland.

A section comprising a single NMESIS launcher, command vehicle and leader vehicle – all based on the JLTV chassis – deployed to Basco for 72 hours and conducted simulated fire missions against warships attempting to pass through the Luzon Strait.

Staff Sergeant Darren Gibbs, a section chief in the MLR’s Medium-Range Missile Battery, described NMESIS “as an autonomous missile system that’s essentially used for protection of our straits and sea lines.”

He said “training in Batanes allows us a different environment than what we normally operate in, so it gives us unique opportunities to actually utilize the system.”

However, the NMESIS is yet to fire an actual missile in the Philippines.

Stoner explained that Balikatan is “a phenomenal opportunity to strengthen our partnerships, get reps in employing systems like NMESIS, MADIS and our sensing systems, and really exercise our ability to execute distributed command and control.”

Threats from the air

MADIS is short for Marine Air Defense Integrated System. Fielded by the Marine Corps last year, it comprises JLTVs fitted with various soft-kill and hard-kill counter-drone systems.

At an integrated air defense demonstration in Zambales on Apr. 28, Defense News saw a battery of MADIS vehicles take down various kinds of quad-copters and fixed-wing drones.

In that engagement, countermeasure seemed to miss more drone targets than it hit. However, Defense News learned that crews were deliberately practicing tracking the drones and perfecting tactics, techniques and procedures, rather than simply trying to blow them up.

Staff Sergeant Noah Konien, a platoon sergeant in the 3rd Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, praised his crews: “They did an excellent job, focused on what they had to do and did the job very well.”

Being based on Oahu, MADIS crews face limitations when live-firing at home, so Konien was enthusiastic about the opportunity to fire rounds and missiles in the Philippines.

Regionally relevant

There are two MLRs in the Asia-Pacific region, the other being the 12th MLR stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

Stoner explained, “We’re a purpose-built, informed formation designed to operate and persist in contested littoral environments in tandem with regional forces. In real-world terms, our function is to enable and deliver multi-domain effects that expand the decision space for the broader combined and joint force in the region.”

Asked what direction MLRs will go next, Stoner responded that the Marine Corp is constantly evolving. “The MLR is truly an example of modernization in action.”

He added, “Regardless of specific systems, we’re continually experimenting with advanced sensing capabilities, exploring more survivable command-and-control tactics, and pushing the envelope on multi-domain operations to ensure we remain effective and ready in any situation with our allies and partners in the region.”

This helps explain why Exercise Balikatan 2026, held in the Philippines from Apr. 20 to May 8, is the largest-ever drill in the series. It features troops from seven countries: the Philippines, United States, Australia, Canada, France, Japan and New Zealand.

The latter four nations have boots on the ground for the first time, marking a significant growth trajectory for Balikatan.

For Clark, who has headed USARPAC since Nov. 8, 2024, this 41st iteration of Balikatan represents a “full-circle event.” As a young 25th Infantry Division company commander, he attended the annual exercise series back in 1994.

The general told Defense News that it really underscores the growth of the relationship over many years. “It’s those touchpoints that allow us to build the relations that are necessary to strengthen our partnerships, because the partnerships are really the secret sauce. We never go into a conflict by ourselves.”

Real-world events

Clark said Balikatan “is an opportunity for us to train in a way [where] you’d simulate the kinds of tasks we’d perform together in combat at the invitation of the Philippine government on their sovereign soil.”

He also acknowledged Balikatan has changed focus over the years. Whereas counterinsurgency and counterterrorism once predominated, now the focus is “large-scale combat operations” and territorial defense. “It’s the willingness of the partner to train on the task that they think that they’re going to have to perform in crisis and conflict,” Clark noted.

Balikatan 2026 therefore featured two distinct counter-landing, live-fire exercises, as well as maritime key terrain seizure operations in far-flung islands in the Luzon Strait that sit south of Taiwan.

These types of operations would be critical to contain the Chinese navy in the event of a conflict over Taiwan. The U.S. military thus rehearsed rapidly moving HIMARS rocket launchers and NMESIS anti-ship missile systems to remote islands, for example.

Clark pointed out: “Everything we can do to build the trust that’s necessary, in times where we’re able to train together prior to any kind of crisis or conflict, is golden.” Further, “Building that kind of trust with one another right now, where we have the confidence in ourselves, our soldiers, our weapons and equipment, our leadership, our tactics – and we’re doing that along with our partners – it’s just invaluable.”

Asked to describe his command focus, Clark replied succinctly, “It’s always the same: it’s people and partnerships so that we can prevail in competition, crisis and conflict.” Balikatan contributes to such purposes, though it is just one of 50-plus exercises that USARPAC conducts annually under its Operation Pathways umbrella.

He said Operation Pathways “changes our mindset in terms of how we think about operationally deploying forces in the theater. … What it is is our ability to set conditions with our partners, allies and the joint force, and conduct rehearsals on key terrain inside the First and Second Island Chains.”

Transformation

One of the command’s assigned divisions is the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division, one of two original Transformation in Contact formations. It is among the vanguard fielding new equipment like M7 rifles, M250 machine guns, drones and Infantry Squad Vehicles, for instance. Clark highlighted that 25th ID is the Army’s only infantry division to possess HIMARS too.

He added that Transformation in Contact also brings industry alongside and gives them direct feedback from soldiers.” The opportunity for soldiers to “take, shake and break” new equipment permits faster iteration.

Clark also noted 25th ID and 4th ID are piloting next-generation, command-and-control suites to enable headquarters to make decisions faster, communicate more securely and grant greater situational awareness.

“What you’re seeing is the Army’s most lethal and technologically advanced mobile infantry formation,” he said.

The Army has three Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTF), two of them in USARPAC. Clark said the next development will be putting these theater-level MDTF capabilities under a two-star multi-domain command. “That then allows us to be more responsive and plug into the higher headquarters of the joint force.”

Clark promised this will make MDTFs more responsive to the needs of combatant force commanders in time and space. The first of these, Multi-Domain Command Pacific, will be the 7th ID, set to be activated at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in June.

Complementary and challenging

Asked whether the Army is simply trying to replicate what the Marine Corps already does, Clark responded: “The Marine Corps, as part of the land power network in the theater, is a great partner, a great teammate, and we work hand in hand with the capabilities that are resident inside of our formations in order to really cause dilemmas for our adversaries.”

As an example of their complementary nature, Marines did not bring an air wing to Balikatan, so it relied upon the Army’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. “What we’re going to try to do is bring the best of both of our capabilities to assist the joint force in the process of solving hard problems,” Clark said.

The Army brings strengths in robust sustainment formations and capabilities, but getting those supplies and sustainment forward in the theater is always challenging. “What we’re trying to do over the course of time is to continue identify places, not bases, where we can forward-locate the sustainment that’s necessary for our teammates to utilize in crises and conflicts,” Clark said. “Setting the theater is one of our primary responsibilities, and we try to do that through campaigning.”

Clark said leveraging new technologies “makes us more lethal, more survivable. If we can see first, sense first, strike first, protect always, sustain as required, then that’s really where we want to focus technology.”

Finishing off the foe’s stubborn resistance, a Kestrel first-person-view (FPV) drone carrying an explosive payload slammed into the enemy bunker. Afterwards, sweating profusely in the 97ºF heat, the Americans and Filipinos secured the area.

This jungle patrol in the thickly vegetated training area of Fort Magsaysay, located 75 miles north of Manila, was just one of many events taking place across the Philippines in Exercise Balikatan 2026.

More than 17,000 troops from seven countries are participating in this multilateral exercise being held from Apr. 20 to May 8.

The major U.S. Army contingent in Balikatan is the 3rd Mobile Brigade of the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division. The soldiers conducting this realistic drill were from Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, alongside troops from the Philippine Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team.

This engagement integrating new tech underscored how the “Tropic Lightning” division is transforming and adopting new technologies as one of the Army’s two original Transformation in Contact divisions. It is required to do so by the changing nature of modern warfare.

Col. Adisa King, the 3rd Mobile Brigade commander, told Defense News that technology does help: “It reduces risk a little bit, but it allows you to see farther.”

“The challenge is how do you mass that? What if I had ten of those [drones]?” King asked. “They go up to disrupt or they go up to help me see, and we push them all the way down to lower levels. But sustainment is the issue.”

Indeed, the technology can be fickle, King pointed out: Drones can overheat in the tropical climate, soldiers have to lug extra equipment around, jungles are often too thick for FPVs, and recharging batteries is another challenge.

Yet King listed three things his brigade gains from participating in Balikatan: becoming familiar with an environment the soldiers might one day fight in; learning from partners; and rehearsing how to fight together.

Underscoring their modernization push, these Hawaii-based soldiers were carrying the latest M7 assault rifles, and new M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISV) provided them rapid maneuverability.

Lightning Lab innovation

Elsewhere, Lightning Labs illustrates how the 25th Infantry Division is prioritizing innovation and iteration. This cell was designed to accelerate the adoption of new technologies.

The Kestrel “killer” FPV quadcopter, measuring five inches across and capable of swarming, is one such fruit. CW3 Aaron Dunson, Operations Officer of Lightning Labs, said the Kestrel is designed for mass production. The aim is to get them into the hands of soldiers so they can identify their capabilities and limitations.

Lightning Labs is also developing a high-speed drone interceptor. In addition, the lab was testing a containerized solar-panel micro grid to generate electricity, a quieter alternative to diesel generators. Dunson described it as “a very viable solution” in the Philippines.

He shared that his cell is covering capability gaps while industry races to catch up. “Our piece of this pie is to identify the opportunity and then present it to the subject matter experts within the division and say, ‘Is this usable?’”

Forge ahead

Another innovation appeared last year – the Forge – an INDOPACOM initiative where a dozen Army and Marine personnel run an expeditionary manufacturing capability based at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. It is armed with deployable equipment like industrial-grade 3D printers (polymer and metal), milling machines and 3D scanners.

The Forge comes up with rapid solutions. During Balikatan, for example, a road grader from an engineering unit was disabled due to broken bolts. Instead of waiting ten weeks for spares to arrive from the U.S., the Forge reverse-engineered and manufactured them in six hours.

Likewise, soldiers complained of broken bipods on their new M50 machine guns, so the unit came up with a 3D-printed solution to fix that too.

The Forge’s services have been in demand throughout Balikatan. It had 36 projects on the go, with twelve completed by halfway through the exercise. One of them was producing 300 Kestrel drone frames.

The Forge saves soldiers time and money. CW2 Kevin Ton, officer in charge of the Forge, said it had saved $23,000 and a cumulative 96 months in waiting time for spare parts in the first week of Balikatan alone.

With multiple security challenges in Asia-Pacific – high among them being Chinese belligerence – there is a need for the Army to adapt quickly and to speedily field the latest technologies.

The 25th Infantry Division epitomizes this rapid change that United States Army Pacific is undergoing. Another example is that it is the Army’s only infantry division to possess HIMARS rocket launchers.

The tropical location was the west coast of Palawan, an elongated Philippine island on the edge of the South China Sea.

As a notional enemy amphibious force edged closer to the beach, Australian, Kiwi, Philippine and American troops hiding in foxholes camouflaged by palm fronds unleashed a barrage of small-arms fire.

Afterwards, as the repulsed “enemy” withdrew in disorder, a coup de grace was delivered by an explosive-laden, first-person-view drone. As silence returned to the Aporawan beach in Palawan, disabled unmanned surface vessels – representing enemy landing craft – drifted in the waves or sat burning on the shore.

This counter-landing, live-fire exercise on Apr. 27 was a keystone event in Exercise Balikatan, an annual series of multilateral war games held in the Philippines.

On the day, more than 500 troops worked shoulder to shoulder – which is what “Balikatan” means – to repel the notional enemy amphibious assault.

Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, explained the event’s “real value is showcasing our resolve to work together to defend the Philippine archipelago and to uphold the rules-based international order. So that’s the more important aspect of all the exercises we’re doing here.”

Palawan is an important location, Brawner added, since it faces the West Philippine Sea and the country’s exclusive economic zone.

“It’s really very important that we defend this territory of the Philippines, and we’re very fortunate that we have with us partners from like-minded nations.”

Although nobody was naming aloud the threat, China with the world’s largest armed forces is the obvious focus of attention in these Balikatan drills.

The South China Sea is witnessing a ramp-up of tensions as Beijing claims maritime territory and builds up reclaimed islands that act as forward military bases.

Involving approximately 17,000 troops from seven countries, Balikatan 2026 is being held from Apr. 20 to May 8.

The primary U.S. Marine Corps participation in the counter-landing exercise was Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D), currently comprising 1/5 Marines.

Col. George Flynn III, commander of MRF-D, told Defense News: “We have the ability to be a global force in readiness and in support of our allies.”

Flynn said the very fact that he was standing on that particular Palawan beach demonstrated the ability of the Marine Corps to show up when it is needed.

“We can talk about all the capabilities we have, but the integration of those capabilities is the cornerstone of how this is done right,” he said. “The friendships that we made being in the dirt in defensive positions alongside each other, that’s what really matters about this event.”

Maj. Gen. Thomas Savage, commander of the 1st Marine Division, was pleased with the conduct of the drill, which “was much more complex, with more countries integrated in the live-fire exercise.”

Asked whether the U.S. military is being sidetracked by the Iran war, Savage responded: “The United States has the capability to commit to all of our global commitments, and this alliance we have with the Philippines is rock solid.”

Nor did all this activity and other maritime drills go unnoticed by China.

The Southern Command of the People’s Liberation Army reported that a four-ship naval task force sailed near Luzon in response to “the current regional situation.”

Among the vessels was a Dongdiao-class intelligence gathering ship to soak up signals and electronic emissions.

Capt. Paul Michael Hechenova, commanding officer of the Philippine frigate BRP Miguel Malvar, said: “No confrontation, no radio challenges. They’re just here monitoring our activity.”

Officials in Canberra said the Wedgetail from the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) No. 2 Squadron would provide a “long-range reconnaissance capability which will help secure the airspace above the Gulf” for an initial four-week period.

No details on its planned basing were provided, but Al Minad Air Base near Dubai is a likely locale, as the Australian military has maintained a presence there since 2003.

Twelve Gulf nations have been targeted by Iran so far since the United States and Israel launched strikes against the Tehran regime on Feb. 28.

Australian E-7A airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft are no strangers to overseas deployments. One was in Europe for six months to support Ukraine, where it flew 45 sorties – including a record 17.1-hour mission.

The platform also supported U.S. operations against Islamic State in Syria from 2014-2020.

The aircraft is expected to provide a “huge boost” to the region’s defenses against Iranian drones and missiles, Malcolm Davis, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

The UAE, home to 24,000 Australians, has defended itself against 1,500 Iranian rockets and drones so far. To help replenish weapon stocks, Australia will dispatch an unknown quantity of AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to the country.

The U.S. approved the sale of 200 AIM-120C-8 and 200 AIM-120D-3 AMRAAMs to Australia in April 2025, so the UAE will probably receive older missile variants still held in stock. The missiles will arm UAE Air Force F-16 Block 60 fighters that can fire the beyond-visual-range missile.

Australia stated it “supported action aimed at preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and preventing Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security.”

However, Australian leaders have said the country won’t be a protagonist in Israel and U.S. combat operations.

“The Albanese government has been clear that we are not taking offensive action against Iran, and we have been clear that we are not deploying Australian troops on the ground in Iran,” reads a government statement, referring to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Eighty-five Australian troops will deploy to the Middle East, and last week Canberra announced the deployment of a C-17A transport aircraft and KC-30A aerial tanker to the Gulf.

This was a contentious point for Canberra, as it is not a party to military actions against Iran.

Two days later, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the presence of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) sailors aboard the U.S. submarine when the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was sunk.

“We wouldn’t normally confirm such an issue, but given our meetings and the public interest, I can confirm that there were three Australian personnel on board that vessel,” Albanese revealed.

He added, “I can confirm also, though, that no Australian personnel have participated in any offensive action against Iran.” He noted, too, frameworks are in place to ensure Australians do not participate in such combat actions.

Albanese elaborated: “These are long-standing, third-country arrangements that have been in place for a long period of time, and what they do is ensure that Australian Defence Force personnel, where they are embedded in third countries’ defense assets, they act in accordance with Australian law, Australian policy.”

Jennifer Parker, principal and founder of Barrier Strategic Advisory, told Defense News it would have been possible for Australian submariners to recuse themselves during the attack off Sri Lanka. “It would be quite straightforward to not be on the consoles or in the control room during the engagements,” she said.

“As to legality, this was a lawful target in accordance with the law of naval warfare, and the response was also consistent with international law,” Parker said.

She added that such attacks can legally occur anywhere outside 12-nautical-mile territorial waters of neutral states, something true of the U.S. attack near Sri Lanka.

David Shoebridge, a senator from the opposition Greens party, alleged that Australia was complicit in an illegal war.

“We’re being dragged into these wars because of the dystopian logic of AUKUS, that we’re somehow safer by being part of an alliance led by Donald Trump and his lawless regime,” he said, referring to the U.S. president.

AUKUS is a trilateral pact between Australia, the U.K. and the United States aimed at outfitting Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and other technology that would allow Canberra to hold China at bay in Asian waters.

Parker wrote in a piece for The Academic website, “Under the law of naval warfare, warships belonging to a state engaged in an international armed conflict are military objectives by nature. The rules say they may be lawfully targeted.”

As per normal practice, the U.S. did not name the submarine involved, but there are suggestions it was the Virginia-class boat USS Minnesota, which rotated through Australia’s submarine base near Perth last year.

AUKUS progress

As the Australian Navy ramps up preparations to receive second-hand U.S. Virginia-class submarines, dozens of its sailors have been rotating onto American nuclear-powered attack submarines.

Last October, Australian officials revealed “more than 50” sailors were at that time serving on American SSNs. Furthermore, Rear Adm. Stephen Hughes, Australia’s Head of Navy Capability, told Defense News last November that about 160-200 Australian sailors were then in the U.S. and U.K. training pipelines.

“AUKUS remains on track, with a significant amount of achievements to date,” said Parker.

Hughes said it is “a really complicated equation” training sailors on SSNs, even while the Australian Navy keeps six conventionally powered Collins-class submarines in service.

“It’s not hard because we can’t do it and we don’t understand it, but you’ve got to keep Collins at its peak performance while you’re bringing in a new apex predator,” he said. “So the balance here is obviously across the industry spectrum, it’s across navy workforce, getting them trained and still having enough Collins submarines while you’re trying to build a workforce for that.”

Two hours to the east, another amphibious lodgment was occurring simultaneously at Freshwater Beach. This time the main participants were Australia and South Korea.

The two events, part of a combined joint forcible entry operation, formed the culminating activity for Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, held in Australia from July 13-27. They were the most sophisticated amphibious landings ever attempted in the eleven iterations of Talisman Sabre so far.

“We maintained a high operational tempo during Exercise Talisman Sabre 25, which was designed to provide intense training to ensure our forces are capable, interoperable, deployable on short notice and combat ready,” Rear Adm. Tom Shultz, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Seven (ESG-7) and therefore in charge of the U.S. amphibious contingent, told Defense News.

Shultz said the Navy “embraced cooperation and interoperability,” demonstrated by interactions with 14 ships and expeditionary forces from six nations.

An important subplot to the July 24 landings was the first ever touchdown of the Marine Corps’ new Amphibious Combat Vehicle in Australia. These 8×8 ACVs are being inducted into the U.S. service as a much-needed replacement for the AAV7A1 family of vehicles that has soldiered on for 50 years.

Marines stopped using the AAV7A1 family for amphibious operations after a fatal accident in California in 2020. The deployment of ACVs with the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit – or 31st MEU – thus marked an important return of armored amphibious operations to the Indo-Pacific region.

1st Lt. Brooks Wright, the ACV Platoon commander, said his unit swam five ACVs ashore during Talisman Sabre landings.

Wright described the ACV as a “fabulous vehicle.” He explained that it “adds a lot of combat power for the Marine Corps, and allows us to do a lot of things we haven’t been able to do the last couple of years without the AAV around.”

He said the ACV represented a significant upgrade for the Marines; it does “everything that we advertise that we’re able to do – the ship-to-shore movement, getting troops to shore, and then pushing inland to objectives”.

Lt. Col. Andy Hornfeck, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines – currently acting as the 31st MEU’s battalion landing team – described four main lines of effort for the formation during Talisman Sabre 2025.

The first was a MEU live-fire assault on Townshend Island using the full repertoire of weaponry available. This included F-35B fighters, AH-1Z Viper helicopters and M777 artillery pieces, for example.

The MEU then transitioned into force integration training with partners, which featured useful “cross-pollination” of skills, according to Hornfeck.

Thirdly, the 31st MEU conducted two assaults in Queensland’s Bowen region, including an air assault and small-boat raid.

The final effort was the combined joint forcible entry operation, where the MEU had British and Dutch personnel attached to the pre-landing reconnaissance force.

Hornfeck said the Marines worked more slowly and deliberately than if they were acting alone, since it was important to stay synchronized with their Japanese partners.

“Fighting as a coalition is challenging,” he acknowledged. Nonetheless, he deemed Talisman Sabre a realistic experience.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Marine Corps’ 2,500-strong Marine Rotational Force—Darwin (MRF-D) conducted a series of “island hopping” movements across the Outback by air.

First, MRF-D captured an airstrip at Timber Creek, 375 miles south of Darwin. Next up was Nackeroo, and finally the MRF-D seized an airfield at Cloncurry.

These efforts mimicked the Pacific island-hopping campaign of World War II, and these are tactics the U.S. military would use against China in the event of a war.

Laced with missiles and troops, the First Island Chain – extending south from Japan through Taiwan and the Philippines to Indonesia – is a natural geographic barrier of islands and land masses that would form a critical line of defense to contain the People’s Liberation Army.

“We landed right on the X,” Col. Brian Weightman, commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division, told Defense News during an interview in Townsville.

The commander said he was the first to jump onto the drop zone.

In such a parachute operation, casualties of up to 10% are anticipated, he explained.

“We’re very comfortable with that if we land and 90% of the force is able to continue on,” Weightman said.

Luckily, this nighttime airdrop resulted in only three minor injuries, one of which was caused by a midair parachute entanglement in the dark.

Their 6,800-mile flight was only the beginning of the unit’s simulated joint forcible entry operation. After landing, the paratroopers from the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Regiment – nickname “Three Geronimo” – proceeded to march another 30-plus miles to seize an urban objective located near Townsville in northern Queensland.

“To be able to do that with real violence and at speed is really impressive, and I think it should scare adversaries,” the commander said.

Six C-17A Globemaster III aircraft – four from the U.S. Air Force and two from Australia – transported 323 American and a dozen German paratroopers on the intercontinental flight, while French troops joined the sky train upon their arrival Down Under. The C-17s also dropped heavy equipment such as HMMWVs.

Technological gains

Weightman relayed how he enjoyed continuous communications to higher headquarters with voice, data and video from his aircraft. This high bandwidth is a big deal, as it “gives you a lot better situational awareness and a lot better understanding of what’s going on. You’re able to really paint a much better picture of the enemy.”

Furthermore, “To be able to directly deliver an infantry battalion with its command that is situationally aware and physically optimized onto a drop zone 7,000 miles away, means that you can really go anywhere in the world.”

Asked whether nighttime parachute jumps are more challenging, Weightman responded, “For us it’s not much more. You know, we own the night, so once we get on the drop zone, we have an asymmetric advantage against our adversaries.”

Talisman Sabre is meant to showcase interoperability, which is “easy to talk about but hard to do,” according to the colonel.

Nighttime jumps demonstrate “the highest level of proficiency,” he said.

After refitting in Townsville, more than 400 American paratroopers were to join 100 German and 36 French soldiers to perform another nighttime jump on July 21, this time at Shoalwater Bay in central Queensland.

“This airfield seizure and expanded lodgment is very classic – it’s the bread and butter of the airborne infantry,” Weightman noted.

The 11th Airborne Division possesses two of the U.S. Army’s five airborne brigades: the 1st Brigade is a mobile combat brigade equipped with Infantry Squad Vehicles, while 2nd Brigade is airborne. Asked what his division brings, Weightman highlighted two things – the ability to move anywhere in the Indo-Pacific, and the other is its Arctic mission.

“We’re the only brigades in the world that have the ability to conduct offensive operations in the Arctic,” the commander said. The troops can operate in arctic climates or the subtropics of Australia with equal adeptness.

Defense News asked whether there is still a place for airborne units on modern battlefields. After all, Russia’s airmobile operation at Hostomel Airport at the start of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 ended disastrously.

“I would argue, yes,” Weightman responded. “And as I’m looking from the enemy’s perspective, what we’re able to do would absolutely scare me if I was the enemy of our country.”

The Indo-Pacific region is rife with tensions – China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula – and the 11th Airborne Division is ready to accomplish offensive, defensive, stability or expeditionary operations, said the brigade commander.

Asked about the rising threat from China, Weightman responded, “You know, we’re not training against a specific adversary. What we’re training to do is to be interoperable with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.”

However, he continued, “If we’re able to do that and mass power from anywhere to anywhere at scale, then we should be able to beat any adversary and keep the Indo-Pacific region open.”

The exercise was the eleventh iteration of Talisman Sabre. The drill involved more than 40,000 troops from 19 nations.