**ROCKHAMPTON, Australia** — Exercise Talisman Sabre, the largest war games ever held in Australia, featured prominent long-range fires. The exercise showcased various anti-ship missile firings, demonstrating the capability of the U.S. and its allies to strike maritime targets from land-based launchers.
If tensions between China and Taiwan escalate into conflict, the positioning of dispersed and mobile anti-ship missiles near strategic maritime straits may help contain China within the First Island Chain. This chain extends southward from the Japanese archipelago through Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
The massive exercise took place from **July 13-27**, marking a series of firsts for Australia, Japan, and the U.S. Crews aboard HIMARS, Type 12, and Typhon launchers executed their respective fire missions. The opening day featured HIMARS units from Australia, Singapore, and the U.S. launching GMLRS munitions together; this was the first time Australia had operated its new HIMARS, which had only arrived in March.
**Maj. Markus Spicer**, executive officer of the U.S. Army’s **1st Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment**, stated that their firepower demonstration showcased seamless interoperability among partner forces, resulting in timely and accurate fires.
Talisman Sabre 2025 included two HIMARS Rapid Insertion (HIRAIN) activities. These activities aim for a C-130 or C-17 to land at austere airstrips within the First Island Chain to deploy HIMARS equipped with Precision Strike Missiles, effectively creating a protective “bubble” against enemy vessels.
The first HIRAIN occurred on **July 22**, with a Canadian C-17A transporting a HIMARS from **Darwin to Christmas Island**. A second operation on the following day involved a German Luftwaffe A400M picking up a HIMARS from Rockhampton. While these iterations were dry-fire exercises, the units successfully completed the sensor-to-shooter linkage from observer to delivery system.
An even more significant aspect of the exercise was the U.S. Army’s **3rd Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF)** firing an **SM-6 missile** from the Typhon missile system on **July 15**. This event marked the first time the Typhon had fired outside the continental U.S., launching the missile from northern Australia at a maritime target north of Darwin.
**Col. Wade Germann**, commander of the 3rd MDTF, emphasized the event’s significance in advancing capabilities for deploying and integrating advanced land-based maritime strike systems. The successful live-fire mission highlights the U.S. military’s goal to pose a threat to Chinese warships attempting to enter the Western Pacific through chokepoints in the First Island Chain.
Though the U.S. Army declined to comment further, a press release noted that the draw upon insights from the live-fire exercise will contribute to future developments in land-based maritime strikes. The Typhon system’s rapid mobility allows for deployment via C-17 transport aircraft and also supports longer-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Talisman Sabre focused heavily on rehearsing “island hopping” and seizing island chains through air assaults and amphibious landings. Moreover, the U.S. has a Typhon battery stationed in the **Philippines**, although it has not yet conducted any missile launches there.
In addition to U.S. activities, **Japan** successfully launched two **Type 12 anti-ship missiles** from the **Beecroft Weapons Range**, located south of Sydney, on **July 22**. This missile firing was more sophisticated than a previous launch, as both missiles were fired at different trajectories and struck a floating target 19 miles off the coast.
**Col. Youhei Ito**, commander of the Japanese unit, acknowledged the complex global security environment and emphasized the importance of cooperation with allies through exercises like Talisman Sabre to achieve strategic objectives. Japan remains in a contentious geopolitical stance with China, particularly regarding disputes over the Senkaku Islands in its southern archipelago.
**Gordon Arthur** is an Asia correspondent for Defense News, having spent two decades working in Hong Kong and now residing in New Zealand. He has covered military exercises and defense exhibitions across around 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
