TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) together with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) conducted an amphibious landing on the shores of Banongan Beach, Asembagus, Situbondo, East Java, on Wednesday, November 13th, 2024.

The mini-amphibious landing is part of the Keris Woomera 2024 Exercise, the largest and most complex joint exercise ever held by Australia and Indonesia.

"Over the past week, Australia and Indonesia have been working together in large-scale exercises and carrying out various activities, ranging from troop landings from ships to the coast to humanitarian evacuation scenarios and disaster relief," said Captain Chris Doherty of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) after observing the amphibious landing on Wednesday, November 13th, 2024.

Captain Chris Doherty is the Commander Amphibious Task Force ADF.

The exercise deployed a number of tanks, warships, fighter aircraft, landing ships, assault helicopters, and involved around 2,000 combined personnel from both countries.

Some of the military equipment deployed included the ships HMAS Adelaide and Stuart, the Republic of Indonesia Warship (KRI) Makassar and R.E. Martadinata, Australia's F-16 aircraft, TNI Air Force's F-16 Falcons, Australian Army ARH Tigers, Australian Army M1A1 Abrams tanks, tanks belonging to the TNI AD, and helicopters.

The Keris Woomera Exercise was held after Indonesia and Australia enhanced their military cooperation through a recent bilateral defense agreement. This exercise is also part of the Indo-Pacific Endeavor 2024, a series of Australian military exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.

Colonel Judd Finger, Commander Landing Forces ADF, who led the ADF landing, stated that the Keris Woomera Exercise demonstrates that ADF and TNI are ready to work together to face security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

"We have demonstrated our ability to unite our Navy, Army, and Air Force safely to conduct amphibious operations from land to shore and air to shore," said Judd.

The joint amphibious exercise will be followed by humanitarian evacuation and disaster recovery scenarios. TNI and ADF will also conduct joint shooting exercises using live ammunition in the coming days.

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