Wall Street Journal:
ABOARD THE USS RONALD REAGAN—American forces took part in a major amphibious landing and practice assault off Australia’s northeast coast on Wednesday in stepped-up drills as China modernizes its military to project power far from its shores.
In a combined exercise due to run through early August, the U.S. and its allies are simulating scenarios including war at sea, attacking ships and land invasions on the northeast Australian coastline, officials on board the exercise’s lead aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, said.
Talisman Sabre is a biennial combat-training exercise for U.S. and Australian forces. This year, they are joined by forces from the U.K., Canada, Japan and New Zealand—with more than 34,000 military personnel, 30 ships and 200 aircraft. Japan sent two warships and 330 troops, compared with no ships and around 60 troops in 2017.
