US Navy visits to Brisbane as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre

Bi-ennially, Australia and the United States militaries conduct Exercise Talisman Sabre – joint exercises to foster collaboration & enhance each nation’s capabilities. Exercises have been held every two years since 2005, making it a decade since inception.

The exercise is held at various locations, but the majority of the exercises are held in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area – near Rockhampton, in Central Queensland. Rockhampton is approximately one hour’s flight from The Swing Wing HQ in Brisbane, which lends itself to receive a couple of US military movements around Talisman Sabre time.

This has included some carrier based aircraft (C-2A Greyhounds) and navy support aircraft such as the C-40A Clipper, and C-130T Hercules. Here’s a few images from the past couple of weeks. Also be sure to check out our related article on the USS George Washington’s visit to Brisbane.

For those chasing the serials – the C-2A Greyhound is 162172 (from the VRC-30 the Providers, based at NAS North Island, and the C-130T is 165160 (from VR-62 the Nor’ Easters, based at NAS Brunswick, Maine).

US Navy C-40A Clipper at Brisbane – taken by Daniel Vorbach