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Distributed surface systems firing on land, maritime or air targets are providing an “asymmetric advantage”, according to US military leadership deployed to Exercise Talisman Sabre.
US Army Pacific Deputy Commanding General Army Lieutenant General Joel B Vowell made the comments during the Talisman Sabre 2025 multinational exercise.
More than 35,000 participants from 19 nations are deployed to Australia for Talisman Sabre 2025, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) in use with Singapore, Australia and the United States.
“We had a live-fire event at Shoalwater Bay, where all three countries combined into a composite HIMARS battery, received fire direction; a call for fire ... from an observer for a deep strike target,” Lt Gen Vowell said.
“You had an integrated fires solution with multiple different platforms from three different countries firing simultaneously on a deep target. That has not happened before.
“[It’s a] big first [for] Singapore, Australia, US, a combined battery HIMARS live-fire with precision, at distances of about 60 kilometres.
“(Distributed land forces capable of using surface fires) that’s an asymmetric advantage the Army is developing. We show that in Talisman Sabre.
“Our collective readiness, our signalling of what we’re doing forward, provides what has to be inferred and interpreted as a deterrent effect … The number of participants signals the resolve that we have in the region to work together.”
Talisman Sabre now includes deployments from Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga and the United Kingdom.
Speaking to media about the deployment of US Typhon Missile system as a mid-range capability that can fire the Standard Missile-6 or the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, Lt Gen Vowell said the Talisman Sabre deployment was a demonstration of capability and interoperability of the United States and its allies.
“We fired SM-6 live, first time west of the international date line, from the land and hit a sea target ... at 166 kilometres,” Lt Gen Vowell said.
“That was emblematic of the requirement the joint forces levied on the Army to be able to have a capability to hold maritime targets at risk from the land.”
“Throughout the year, our Army formations move from country to country to country to country to do these events, different parts of the exercises, different training objectives, but they all seek interoperability as an outcome; they all seek a deterrent mechanism.”
“(Talisman Sabre is) part of a connected series to provide a deterrent optic across the region from land forces, so we have no war; priority one.
“Priority two, if the national command authority wants us, we are postured and ready to be able to respond in crisis if we have to.”
