Exercise Kakadu 2008
| 31 July 2008 HMAS Melbourne Two thousand sailors and airmen from nine nations are gearing up in northern Australia for Exercise Kakadu IX, an important international Defence exercise. The 19 day exercise will bring together Defence personnel from Australia, New Zealand, the French Armed Forces - New Caledonia (FANC), Singapore, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Japan and Thailand; with observers from the Philippines, Indonesia and India. Exercise Kakadu IX is a multilateral exercise aimed at developing interoperability in maritime operations in an international environment. It is the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) premier international engagement activity for 2008 and will take place in the Northern Australian Exercise Area off Darwin. The exercise aims to improve the Australian Defence Force’s ability to work with international naval forces in maritime contingency operations and evolutions, and will test the effectiveness of participating assets. During Kakadu IX, the RAN will be represented by the Replenishment Vessel HMAS Sirius, the Anzac Class Frigate HMAS Toowoomba, Adelaide Class Frigate HMAS Melbourne, a Collins Class Submarine HMAS Collins, the Armidale Class Patrol Boats HMAS Maryborough and HMAS Maitland and two Mine Clearance Vessels HMA Ships Diamantina and Gascoyne. Royal Australian Air Force Hornet and Hawk Fighter Strike Aircraft and two AP-3C Orion Aircraft will also be participating in the exercise. |
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| 20080728ran8100087_011 Leading Seaman Communications and Information Systems, Jeremy Pitchford communicates with ships participating in Exercise Kakadu from the bridge of HMAS Melbourne. (Date taken: 28 July 2008) low-res | high-res |
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| 20080728ran8115069_004 Petty Officer Marine Technician David Ward (second left) is giving a tour to the observors from foreign Navies around the engine spaces of HMAS Melbourne. (Date taken: 28 July 2008) low-res | high-res |
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| 20080729ran8100087_007 Lieutenant Darren Greene (left) speaks with Lieutenant Rashid Shahril on the bridge wing of HMAS Melbourne. Lieutenant Rashid is visiting HMAS Melbourne from the Malaysian ship, KD Jebat. (Date taken: 29 July 2008) low-res | high-res |
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| 20080729ran8100087_035 HMAS Melbourne's Seahawk heliopter conducts flying operations during Exercise Kakadu. (Date taken: 29 July 2008) low-res | high-res |
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| 20080729ran8100087_075 HMAS Collins lauches a flare as it moves past Singaporean Victory Class Missile Corvette, RSS Vengeance. (Date taken: 29 July 2008) low-res | high-res |
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| 20080729ran8100087_084 HMAS Collins surfaces on completion of an exercise. (Date taken: 29 July 2008) low-res | high-res |
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| 20080729ran8100087_102 Seaman Writer Sally Parente plots information in Damage Control Central during a damage control exercise onboard HMAS Melbourne. (Date taken: 29 July 2008) low-res | high-res |
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