Stars and Stripes:


A combined task force of 17,000 U.S., Australian, New Zealand, Japanese, South Korean and British troops kicked off the biennial Talisman Sabre drills Wednesday in Australia.

The participants include a U.S. expeditionary strike group from the USS America, the amphibious assault ship based at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, along with 70 fixed-wing aircraft and 50 helicopters, task force commander Australian Army Maj. Gen. Jake Ellwood said in a telephone interview from Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberley in Brisbane.

Live-fire training is scheduled at Shoalwater Bay, Queensland, but participants will range as far afield as Darwin in the Northern Territory and Evans Head, New South Wales.

A Patriot missile defense system will fire from Shoalwater Bay at a pair of drone targets on Friday…



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