Go Bold #104: Lieutenant-Colonel Jeremy Maltais on Canada's Participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025

In this episode, we focus on Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, which is hosted by Australia.Exercise Talisman Sabre is the largest military exercise in the Indo-Pacific this year, and it took place in Australia from July 13 to August 4.My guest is Lieutenant-Colonel Jeremy Maltais, of the Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC). Lieutenant-Colonel Maltais was the Joint Task Force Commander for Canada's participation in Exercise Talisman Sabre, and he provides us with a senior leader’s perspective on the scope, complexity, and importance of this biennial exercise.Exercise Talisman Sabre is bilaterally designed between Australia and the United States, and is a multilaterally planned and conducted exercise. This years exercise was the 11th and largest iteration with 19 nations participating. Approximately 600 members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) deployed to Australia for the exercise, which consisted of live fire, field training exercises incorporating force preparation activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvres, and air combat and maritime operations.Canada’s participation featured key assets including the C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Hercules aircraft for transport missions, a CC-144 Challenger configured for aeromedical evacuation, and the Halifax-class surface combatant HMCS Ville de Québec with its CH-148 Cyclone helicopter.In a key serial, HMCS Ville de Québec successfully conducted the firing of a Block II Harpoon missile, and completed a forward rearmament in Darwin, marking only the second time a Royal Canadian Navy ship has done so outside North America. Exercise Talisman Sabre also enabled another first for Canada with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) transporting a U.S. Army HIMARS long range precision strike weapon system, demonstrating combined capability. Not only did the RCAF transport the HIMARS weapon system but they also integrated it with the C-17 to receive location information, enabling a capability called HIMARS Rapid Infiltration (HIRAIN).There is much more to the Canadian participation in this years Exercise Talisman Sabre and Lieutenant-Colonel Maltais does a wonderful job of explaining the highlights, so I hope you will enjoy this episode.My thanks to Lieutenant-Colonel Maltais for his time and insight.GO BOLD!