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Australia’s exercise tempo increases as it looks east for national defence

7th October 2024 - 15:30 GMT | by Damian Kemp in London

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RAAF F-35As conducted exercises with RMAF F/A-18D Hornets and SU-30MKM Flankers. (Photo: Australian DoD)

The Australian Government has focused heavily on the defence of its north-west coast, with plans to move its attack helicopters to the area, as well as base its maritime patrol assets in the region.

Australia has completed participation in three major exercises in the past four weeks and has just started involvement in a fourth. The major focus of the exercises was the country’s north-west region and its approaches.

Exercises Kakadu, Pacific Protector 2024 and Elangaroo 24 have all recently concluded with the latter ending on 4 October.

Exercise Bersama Lima 2024 began on 2 October. It marks the first deployment of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35A Lightning II aircraft and a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) clearance diving team as part of a Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) exercise.

It was the 16