The First Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles on the Largest Ever Exercise in Australia
Soldiers from First Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles (1RGR) have been taking part in Exercise TALISMAN SABRE 25, in Shoalwater Bay, Queensland, Australia, between 17-19 July 2025. The Gurkhas were acting as a defensive reserve, supporting interoperability and joint readiness training alongside Australian Defence Force personnel. The exercise strengthens UK-Australia military cooperation and demonstrates rapid deployment capability in the Indo-Pacific.
More than 3,000 British forces are taking part in the largest military exercise Australia has ever hosted, as the UK’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG25) demonstrates Britain’s unwavering commitment to Indo-Pacific security. The Carrier Strike Group is in Australia as part of Operation Highmast, the major global deployment that demonstrates Britain’s strategic commitment to the Indo-Pacific.
From British Gurkhas to US Marines to Australian Defence Force amphibious specialists, Exercise TALISMAN SABRE 25 serves as one of the deployment’s key moments, bringing together multinational forces to strengthen and test how nations can work together to safeguard global trade routes and maintain regional stability.
Spanning a vast area across Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales, the Australian-US led biennial exercise is bigger than ever, involving over 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations – making Talisman Sabre the largest exercise of the CSG’s deployment and one of the largest military exercises in the world this year. For the first time, offshore activities will also be conducted in Papua New Guinea.
