Talisman Saber ’09

The skies over northern Queensland and the Northern Territory reverberated to the sounds of US and Australian military aircraft over July 6-25 for the biennial Exercise Talisman Saber 2009 (TS09). TS09 aimed to train Australian and US forces in mission planning and conducting combined task force operations to improve combat readiness and interoperability. ABOVE: A USAF F-15C from the 67th Fighter Squadron based at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan, taxis to depart RAAF Darwin. (CPL Melina Mancuso/Dept of Defence)