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Australian-Sri Lankan Defence engagement wraps up
An Australian Landing craft taking part in the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019, with HMAS Canberra in the background
The largest Australian – Sri Lankan Defence engagement came to an end this weekend with the Australian Joint Task Force setting sail to India for the next phase of the Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019 (IPE19) exercise.
The four vessels of the task force HMAS Canberra, Newcastle, Parramatta and Success left Colombo and Trincomalee port continuing their two and a half month multilateral exercise. During the other phases of the IPE19 exercise the task force will visit other regional partners including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
IPE19 is a good opportunity for Australia to demonstrate their military and humanitarian response capability to regional partners. The exercise comes against the backdrop of renewed Australian efforts to become a key security provider and a trusted partner in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The last few years have seen significant efforts by India, Japan, Australia and the United States to engage Sri Lanka on security and defence related matters. Acting Australian High Commissioner John Philp pointed out that Australia would like to work with Sri Lanka to reach common goals. “If Sri Lanka and Australia get together, we can have a lot of influence in the region,” he opined.
The exercise saw more than 1,000 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel engage with Sri Lankan counterparts, exchanging tactics and knowledge, imparting skills and techniques in several disciplines. A strong focus of the week-long engagement was on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR). “We are very grateful for the welcome we have had from the government of Sri Lanka, the tri-services and the community as a whole. We can work together on HADR, not just in Sri Lanka but in other countries,” Mr Philp said.
Last Tuesday, ADF personnel onboard HMAS Canberra carried out amphibious operations demonstrations which saw the vessel deploy a number of fast landing crafts, amphibious vehicles and boats in a simulated disaster response role. Four Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM) carried out rapid ship to shore transfer maneuvers with Sri Lankan Navy, Marines and Army personnel onboard as observers. LCMs are designed to quickly move supplies and personnel from vessels sitting offshore to a beach in an HADR or amphibious assault role explained Leading Seaman Nick Peters, in-charge of one of the LCMs.
Several senior Sri Lankan military officers, including Army Commander Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayaka observed the exercise. The Sri Lankan personnel were especially keen to observe the onboard hospital facilities on the Canberra which is equipped with state-of-the-art medical sensors and theatres. Sri Lankan Air Force pilots and aircrew also took part, flying on board ADF MRH-90 medium lift mutirole helicopters with their Australian counterparts.
In Trincomalee, the task force trained with Sri Lanka Navy Divers and visited SLN’s specialised flood and landslide simulator at the Rapid Action Boats Squadron’s Headquarters of Gangewadiya, Puttalam. The ADF personnel also visited the Army Special Forces Training School in Maduru Oya and the Kukuleganga Peace Operations Training Centre.
“IPE19 goes well beyond the military engagement process; we today showcased one of the capabilities of the task force in terms of HADR,” said Air Commodore Richard Owen, Commander of the Joint Task Force. “We will definitely be back in Sri Lanka; the capability in Sri Lanka are capabilities we want to be part of, we want to be learn from Sri Lankans and we want to partake in the capabilities they offer, and the security that they offer in the Indian Ocean,” he said in response to a question about what the future holds for Australian – Sri Lanka defence corporation.
“Effective enhancement of interoperability of any HADR operation depends on joint training. As Sri Lanka is prone to disasters it is paramount to engage in joint exercises to be proactive to deal in any major disaster,” Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva told the Sunday Times commenting on IPE19.