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The Raytheon-built surface-to-air missiles will be deployed for interopability exercises between Australia and the US for the first time.
A pair of MIM-104 Patriot missiles have been loaded for transport to a launcher at Shoalwater Bay Training Area for Exercise Talisman Sabre 21 (TS21), marking the first time the missiles will be fired in the southern hemisphere.
The units have been stored at an ammunition point commanded by Captain Barend Nieuwoudt, of the 10th Force Support Battalion.
“There were a lot of checks and balances done to get these weapons and a lot of research to get the technical data we require,” CAPT Nieuwoudt said.
The system was first developed in the 1980s, designed to respond to aircraft threats and provide cover for NATO forces during the Cold War.
The Patriot missiles were later enhanced to intercept ballistic missiles, and have since been deployed in a number of operations in the Middle East.
The US Army operates three different variants of the system, with the PAC-2 Patriot missiles to be deployed during TS21.
“Metal balls inside the missile shoot out and impact the warhead that’s coming in,” Staff Sergeant Brendon Street said.
The missiles are expected to track target drones more than 20 kilometres away at speeds of up to Mach 4.
M777 Howitzers and the US High Mobility Artillery Rocket System vehicle-based rocket artillery will also be deployed during the exercise, along with the advanced field artillery tactical data system, which will coordinate fires between Australia and US artillery, also for the first time.
F/A-18s and naval gunfire from Australian, Japanese and American ships will also be deployed.
Exercise Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral combined training activity between the ADF and US military, involving approximately 17,000 personnel.
TS21 is expected to involve a field training exercise incorporating force preparation (logistic) activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvre, urban operations, air combat and maritime operations.
Other nations joining the exercise include the UK, Canada and New Zealand, and observer nations France and India.
Most of the international forces will take part exclusively offshore, with 5,000 personnel participating as part of a United States Navy Expeditionary Strike Group.
Defence bases and a range of training areas across central and northeast Queensland will host the exercises.
TS21 will run over the coming weeks, wrapping up on 31 July.
[Related: Chinese intelligence ship approaches Qld coast]
Charbel Kadib
News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media
Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres.
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