Four nations, four warships and three of the most sophisticated airborne antisubmarine warfare platforms working as one.

As part of Exercise Balikatan, air assets embarked on board HMAS Toowoomba, HMCS Charlottetown and JS Ikazuchi, in company with USS Ashland, practised a series of cross-decking exercises, launching and receiving each other’s aircraft and improving cooperation at sea.  

On the morning of the exercise, aviation warfare officer Lieutenant Sophie Winterton had never landed on a foreign ship. By lunchtime, she had landed and launched on vessels from the United States Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.  

“It’s a really exciting opportunity to cross-deck with another country. It’s a good broadening experience,” Lieutenant Winterton said.

Lieutenant Winterton said the exercise increased the tactical options available to command when working in a joint naval environment.  

“It helps build our interoperability as a force,” Lieutenant Winterton said.

"It allows us to operate with many different nations, so in case of an emergency we can land on them, rely on them to help us out and vice versa.”

Toowoomba’s Flight Commander Lieutenant Commander Lachlan Badger said cross-decking exercises provided aviation technicians with the skills, confidence and knowledge to operate with any regional partner.

“It shows our technicians the skills that they have learned in training as Romeo maintainers and as deck team members can be applied to multiple different aircraft types,” Lieutenant Commander Badger said.

'It allows us to operate with many different nations, so in case of an emergency we can land on them, rely on them to help us out and vice versa.'

The practice of aircraft being able to interoperate extends across a broad spectrum of maritime activities, including casualty and passenger transfers, force multiplication and search and rescue activities.

“We operate with multiple nations all the time,” Lieutenant Commander Badger said.

“Many foreign assets don’t always have helicopters embarked, so if there were a medical evacuation, search and rescue, or man-overboard situation, this type of training allows us to be ready to assist other nations while quickly moving personnel between allied assets.”

Toowoomba has been deployed on her regional presence deployment through East and South-East Asia since January this year working with Australia’s regional partners.

The ship’s participation in Exercise Balikatan was the first time a Royal Australian Navy major fleet unit has participated in the joint Philippine-US exercise since the Australian Defence Force commenced participating in the annual bilateral exercise in 2014.

The Philippines is one of Australia’s most important regional defence partners, with a shared commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. The partnership is underpinned by long-standing defence cooperation dating back to World War II.