UK Troops Partake in Largest Military Drill Between UK, Australia & US

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - More than 150 service members of the United Kingdom have participated in Exercise Talisman Sabre, the largest military exercise between the armed forces of Australia, the United States and the UK, the UK Defense Ministry said Friday.

"More than 150 UK personnel have joined troops from 13 other nations for Exercise Talisman Sabre, which took place across Australia and in adjacent waters, to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Talisman Sabre, which began on 22 July and ends Friday, is the largest military exercise between Australian, UK and US Armed Forces and is designed to strengthen partnerships and interoperability among key allies.

It tests joint capabilities across land, sea, air, space and digital domains," the ministry said on the website.

The ministry added that over 34,000 troops participated in the exercise, which involved forces from Australia, Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Tonga, the UK and the US.

This year's exercise also marked the largest contribution of the UK to Talisman Sabre, the ministry said.

However, the 2023 rendition of the military exercises did not go quite as smoothly as officials had desired; in fact, earlier reports detailed that during a helicopter with the Australian military crashed last week.

The incident claimed the lives of four crew members, with remains only having been found earlier this week. Officials previously stated that the search for the chopper's black box remained ongoing.