TRAINING
areas in Queensland and the Northern Territory will be upgraded
to establish a network of state-of-the-art facilities where Australian
and US forces can undertake joint training.
The agreement to develop a Joint Combined Training Centre came
at the recent annual Australia-US Ministerial consultations in
Washington.
The centre will include state-of-theart technology for commanders
to oversee the exercises in real time then replay missions in
debriefs to personnel.
Under the concept, facilities at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area
in Queensland and the Bradshaw Training Area and Delamere Air
Weapons Range in the Northern Territory will be further developed
and linked with American facilities.
Defence Minister Robert Hill said the priority would be to upgrade
the Shoalwater Bay facility to support the first of the Talisman
Sabre series of biennial joint training exercises in 2007.
“Talisman Sabre will see tens of thousands of Australian and US
military personnel undertake land, sea and air training in operations
such as full-scale amphibious landing, airstrike bomb runs using
live munitions as well as high-tech computer simulated scenarios,”
he said.
The joint training would provide “vital experience given the increasing
need for our military to work together in coalitions in these
uncertain times”.
