The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has deployed forces to Exercise Croix du Sud 2025 in New Caledonia as well as Wallis and Futuna.
Led by the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia, Croix du Sud is a multinational combined field training exercise, and the South Pacific's largest Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise.
The Australian contingent consists of around 70 personnel, including a C-27J Spartan aircraft and crew, an Australian Civil-Military Centre team, combat engineers, military police, health teams and planning personnel.
Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Justin Jones said the ADF was pleased to support the latest iteration of the exercise.
"The ADF's continued support to French-led Exercise Croix du Sud demonstrates the importance we place on collective action and cooperation in response to disasters and security incidents. The Pacific has a proud record of working together across common security concerns, which will continue long into the future," Vice Admiral Jones said.
"The specialist staff deployed to New Caledonia will strengthen our interoperability with partners and work to improve regional resilience to HADR events.
"We look forward to continuing our commitment to multi-national exercises and regional security."
Australian contingent commander, Captain Mark Sirois, RAN, said the ADF contingent was excited to engage with Pacific partners and make new friends.
"I'm proud to deploy alongside men and women from across the services who each possess a specific skillset honed through experience and high-quality training," Captain Sirois said.
"We look forward to working alongside the Croix du Sud participant nations to provide core and specialist input into multi-national and multi-agency planning for HADR response scenarios."
Exercise Croix du Sud will conclude on 4 May 2025.
