Anzac-class frigate HMAS Ballarat has sailed from HMAS Stirling in Western Australia for a Regional Presence Deployment, reaffirming the Australian Defence Force's maintenance of a near-continuous presence in the region.
During its three-month deployment, HMAS Ballarat will conduct military visits to ports and participate in exercises and cooperative activities with partner nations, demonstrating Australia's commitment to a secure, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
Australia conducts Regional Presence Deployments in accordance with international law, allowing Australia to exercise the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace.
The deployment by HMAS Ballarat will run concurrently with HMAS Brisbane, which left Australia on a Regional Presence Deployment in late July.
Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral Justin Jones AO, CSC, RAN, said HMAS Ballarat's crew would continue the decades-long practice of building security relationships across the region.
"Regional Presence Deployments reinforce Australia's position as a trusted and reliable security partner within the Indo-Pacific region," Vice Admiral Jones said.
"During this deployment, we will see HMAS Ballarat conduct multilateral maritime training with India, Japan and the United States through Exercise Malabar.
"HMAS Ballarat will also participate in Exercise Bersama Lima 25, alongside our Five Powers Defence Arrangements partners from Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom."
Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AO, RAN, said the work the crew of HMAS Ballarat undertake in these deployments supported Australia's economic connections to the world and demonstrated our ongoing commitment to the international rules-based order.
"We are a trading nation, surrounded by three oceans and dependent on our access to the sea for our economic wellbeing. Personnel from HMA Ships Ballarat and Brisbane should be proud of the impact they're having in helping to preserve our national security interests," Vice Admiral Hammond said.
"From border protection, Middle East deployments, and around-the-world voyages, HMAS Ballarat has a proven track record in any maritime environment."
Commissioned into service with the Royal Australian Navy in 2004, HMAS Ballarat carries a 177-strong crew and has an embarked MH-60R Seahawk helicopter.
The ship is capable of conducting air defence, surface and undersea warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction missions.
