The recent visit to the Philippines, by two ships of the Indo-Pacific Endeavour Task Group has significantly reinforced the strong defence relationship between Australia and the Philippines.
The Task Group later sailed to Subic Bay for a four day visit, where both ships received over several hundred visitors eager to view the new capabilities the Australian Defence Force had on offer. To demonstrate the capability of the Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) to support regional responses to Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) events, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) conducted a combined HADR training exercise in Subic Bay. The HADR training activity involved 80 PMC personnel plus their vehicles that embarked HMAS Adelaide in Subic Bay and were deployed ashore by ADF Landing Craft and PMC Riverine Craft. Despite demanding weather conditions due to Typhoon Khanun to the East of the Philippines, the combined ADF and PMC HADR response force was able to rapidly deploy ashore.
An Australian Defence Group (ADF) Joint Task Group, Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2017, is participating in a series of key military exercises throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Running from September to November, Indo-Pacific Endeavour will focus on enhancing military cooperation with some of Australia’s key regional partners including Indonesia, Japan, India, Malaysia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Brunei, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Cambodia and the Federated States of Micronesia.
HMAS Adelaide will be accompanied at various stages of the deployment by HMAS Melbourne, HMAS Darwin, HMAS Toowoomba, HMAS Parramatta, and HMAS Sirius, making it the biggest coordinated task group deployment in many decades. Indo-Pacific Endeavour will also involve service personnel from the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Group and include Defence civilians, ADF helicopters, and fixed wing aircraft.
