Exercise KAKADU is a joint-enabled, biennial exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy and supported by the Royal Australian Air Force. KAKADU is Australia’s largest maritime exercise and aims to foster and strengthen effective security and humanitarian partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region through a series of training and engagement activities.
Exercise KAKADU, held from 30 August to 15 September 2018, will involve 23 ships and submarines, 21 aircraft and more than 3,000 personnel and observers from 27 nations. In addition to Australia, the other participating nations include Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the UAE, the US and Vietnam.
China will take part in Kakadu for the first time by sending one of its warships. Australia has invited China to join the drill in an effort to ease tensions between the two countries, intensified by China’s growing assertiveness in the South China and East China Seas and sporadic altercations at sea between the two sides.
