SINGAPORE — Australia and Indonesia have concluded a bilateral defense exercise that involved thousands of personnel and included a number of “firsts” for Canberra — the latest in what an analyst said were a series of trust-building and integration exercises between the nations.
Exercise Keris Woomera took place between 12 and 20 October in and around the eastern part of Indonesia’s most populous island of Java, and saw approximately 1,000 Australian personnel take part alongside their Indonesian counterparts. The Australian Department of Defence called Keris Woomera “the largest overseas training activity for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for the year.”
“The exercise enables the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) to conduct high-end joint training with the ADF [Australian Defence Force], contributing to their own capacity to deter military coercion and defend Indonesian sovereignty,” the ADF said on its website.
It added that the exercise would “ensure ADF can deter a potential adversary’s attempts to project power against Australia, and be prepared to protect Australia and its maritime approaches.”
The ADF said the exercise played host to several firsts, including the “first time the high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) deployed and fired overseas, the first deployment of a RAAF 4 Squadron aircraft into South-East Asia since World War II and the first time Australia conducted cyber integration training with Indonesia.”
“By operating side-by-side, this year’s iteration has shown how Australia and Indonesia can integrate to address shared security challenges and positively impact how we respond to a rapidly evolving strategic environment.
‘Increasingly Frequent Exercises’
The exercise comes just months after both countries signed the Australia-Indonesia Treaty on Common Security in February which, among other things, reaffirms the relationship between both countries and a desire “to contribute to regional security and stability”
Fauzan Malufti, a researcher at the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that “Keris Woomera is part of a wider series of increasingly frequent exercises between the TNI and ADF, which will help build trust and familiarity at both the unit and leadership levels.”
He told Breaking Defense that the exercise was expected to be confidence building for both sides and improve the interoperability.
“The exercise helps TNI and ADF better understand each other’s procedures, communications, planning, and command systems so they can operate together better, especially in combat scenarios,” he added.
This year’s iteration of the exercise was the second in the series since the inaugural event in 2024, and Malufti said he believes that the Australians would like to see the exercise scale up in complexity as the regional security situation becomes more “challenging.”
He pointed out that Indonesia’s capabilities and other political considerations might nevertheless see it reluctant to widen the scope of future exercises, noting that Indonesia’s commitment to non-alignment might result in it not wanting to be seen as leaning towards any particular country.
“TNI capacity is another factor, as engagement with other foreign militaries is also increasing, while the TNI’s growing involvement in domestic non-defense activities continues to consume a huge number of resources and leadership attention”, he said.
Australia’s involvement in Keris Woomera comes amidst a busy October for its interactions with regional militaries. A detachment of its Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II fifth-generation fighters are currently deployed to Singapore as part of a contingent taking part in the Five Power Defence Arrangements exercise called Bersama Lima together with the militaries of Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
Another 300-strong contingent from the ADF is also currently in Japan participating in Exercise Keen Sword, where it is sending a frigate and a Boeing P-8A Poseidon multi-mission anti-submarine aircraft alongside the forces of Japan, the US and six other nations
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