US, allies flex muscles against China with Pacific drill

The United States and its allies have launched a major military exercise off the coasts pf Australia in the Pacific region, in a move that seems to be part of America’s policy shift towards confronting China’s growing influence in the region.

More than 34,000 forces from the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Japan and New Zealand took part in the war games, which began off Australia’s northeast coast began on Wednesday.

The combined amphibious landing and practice assault, dubbed Talisman Sabre, also featured 30 ships and 200 aircraft and involved simulating scenarios including war at sea, attacking ships and land invasions, according to officials on board the exercise’s lead aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan.

The USS Ronald Reagan sent F-18 jet fighter jets that flew along with P-8 spy planes and combat helicopters to fulfill their training missions.

“We’re really honing our war fighting skills,” US Rear Adm. Karl Thomas, a strike group commander, told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s about being ready. It’s about being interoperable. It’s about being able to execute tactics together and communicate and just be more lethal.”

A Chinese surveillance ship was reportedly spotted near Australia’s northeast coastline during the exercise but American and Australian officials said they were operating in the international waters and therefore had nothing to worry about.

“We operate around the Chinese quite frequently,” said Admiral Thomas, whose ship, the USS Ronald Reagan, is based in Japan. “It’s important that we’re able to work together in the same piece of the ocean, and I think we do that fairly professionally.”

SS