HMAS Sydney’s three-month journey through the region

16/04/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 118 Views 0 Comments Bersama Shield, Fleet Base East, FPDA, HMAS Sydney, Regional Presence Deployment

From late March until early July 2025, HMAS Sydney will sail throughout the Indo-Pacific as part of Regional Presence Deployment 25-2 to conduct training, exercises and other engagements with regional navies.

CAPTION: HMAS Sydney departs Fleet Base East, Sydney to embark on the fleet’s second regional presence deployment for 2025. Photo by Chief Petty Officer Helen Frank.

- Latest updates
  
  WEDNESDAY, 16 APRIL 2025 – 14:12 PM
  
  Sydney has joined Exercise Bersama Shield and is conducting training alongside Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
  
  Participation in this exercise follows a port visit by Sydney to Singapore, the first overseas stop for this regional presence deployment since the ship left Australian waters earlier this month.
  
  During Bersama Shield, Sydney’s crew will exercise in a contemporary and complex environment with other defence forces.
  
  Bersama Shield is conducted under the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) between Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
  
  The FPDA are the only multilateral defensive arrangements of their kind in Southeast Asia, and are Australia’s longest-standing regional security mechanism.
  
  CAPTION: HMAS Sydney conducts a 5-inch gun firing during a regional presence deployment. Photo by Leading Seaman David Cox.
THURSDAY, 3 APRIL 2025 – 15:04 PM

Sydney departed HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin on April 3 for its three-month regional presence deployment to the Indo-Pacific.

In late March, Sydney sailed from Fleet Base East in Sydney to Darwin, and conducted naval gunnery training en route at Shoalwater Bay in Queensland.
TUESDAY, 25 MARCH 2025 – 11:00 AM

Sydney’s next three months of training and cooperation include Exercise Bersama Shield, alongside the Five Power Defence Arrangements nations Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Chief of Joint Operations Vice-Admiral Justin Jones said the deployments strengthened cooperation with partner nations across the Indo-Pacific region.

“Regional presence deployments demonstrate Australia’s ongoing commitment to supporting regional security and stability and promoting a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” Vice-Admiral Jones said.

“They highlight our contribution to the maintenance of the global rules-based order in line with our partners.”

HMAS Sydney is one of three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers in service, with a crew of more than 200 and a MH-60R helicopter.

Sydney’s Commanding Officer, Commander Ben Weller, said deployments such as this allowed the crew to exercise the ship’s capability across a range of areas and with different partners, preparing them for future cooperation.

“This deployment will coincide with the fifth anniversary of the ship’s commissioning into service with the Navy in May, and it’s fitting the crew will mark this milestone while embarked at sea,” Commander Weller said.

This regional presence deployment will conclude in early July 2025.

HMAS Hobart recently completed the first regional presence deployment for 2025, including training exercises and activities with Indonesia, France and the Philippines.