A suspected improvised explosive device (IED) on a police boat in Gladstone Marina brought Australian and United States clearance divers into action during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
After Queensland Police handed over control of the scene, the divers used electronic countermeasures and conducted a search of the area.
A suspicious package was located on a police vessel at the wharf.
A Talon explosive disposal robot - outfitted with a destructive payload - was deployed to carry out a remote deactivation.
It rolled down the dock under the watchful eyes of Australian, United States and New Zealand observers before safely disabling the device.
But it didn't end there.
A second explosive was located underwater near the marina ramp.
Its complexity required a human touch, so Australian and United States clearance divers launched in Zodiac inflatable boats, suited up and entered the water.
They assessed the threat up close and used specialised tooling to disable it. Once the job was done, the divers glided out of the area and returned to their vessel.
The IED response was one of several training missions conducted by the multinational Mine Warfare line of effort as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025.
The task group's headquarters was based in Gladstone, with a forward operating base (FOB) on Curtis Island that allowed forces to operate independently and test their logistics chain under exercise conditions.
Task Group Commander, Commander Robert Woodall, said the overall effort highlighted the strength of allied cooperation.
"We successfully achieved our objectives, strengthened our relationships between our allied nations and furthered our relationships with our observer partner nations," Commander Woodall said.
The group operated in a 10-by-10 nautical mile box, 17 nautical miles offshore, conducting offensive and defensive mine warfare operations supported at sea by the USS John L. Canley as an expeditionary sea base.
'This demonstrated the interoperability of allied nations in support of contemporary mine warfare tactics techniques and procedures.'
For Leading Hand Nicholai Demafelis, a hydrographer and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) operator from the Royal New Zealand Navy's littoral Warfare Unit, HMNZS Matataua, the exercise offered a valuable opportunity to compare platforms and processes.
"The exercise has been an interesting experience, seeing how different nations operate their underwater autonomous vehicles," Leading Hand Demafelis said.
New Zealand uses the Remus 100 AUVs, while Australia and the United States field Bluefin systems.
"We plan missions on the ship or land, then we transfer the data over to the vehicle and send a team out to get it in the water," Leading Hand Demafelis said.
"Once we hit the start command it carries out the mission and we wait to retrieve it and download data to look over it and find any mines."
Teams from Australia, New Zealand and the United States worked together using clearance divers and AUVs to identify and investigate items of interest on the ocean floor.
"The sea-based mine warfare area of operations enabled the successful integration of Australian and New Zealand mine warfare AUVs and systems, launched from a United States Navy platform," Commander Woodall said.
"This demonstrated the interoperability of allied nations in support of contemporary mine warfare tactics, techniques and procedures."
The task group also conducted explosive hazard disposal in a remnants-of-war scenario involving United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 5 (EODMU-5) and Australian Clearance Diving Team Four.
Closer to shore, Australian deployable hydrographic teams ensured safe sea passage in Gladstone Harbour, scanning for notional unexploded ordnance and removing threats from high-traffic waterways.
The combined force included Royal Australian Navy geospatial teams and clearance divers, United States Navy EODMU-5, and the mine countermeasure team from the Royal New Zealand Navy's Matataua.
Supporting elements came from the Expeditionary Logistics Team - Maritime and the Australian Army's 35 Water Transport Squadron.
Operating from the FOB on Curtis Island allowed the combined team to simulate dislocated command operations and stress-test their ability to maintain supplies, fuel and accommodation in remote conditions.
Commander Woodall said operating as a coalition was considered standard practice.
"We find with each iteration of major exercises and in operations - both technically and procedurally - we are more integrated," he said.
