The command ship of the US Navy's seventh fleet arrives in Sydney today ahead of this month's joint-training exercises with Australia.

On board, Mr Abbott will meet senior US military figures and address the visiting American sailors.

The command ship of the US seventh fleet will play a key role in this month's Talisman Sabre joint training exercises between the Australian Defence Force and US military in northern Australia.

The biennial Talisman Sabre war games between Australia and the US will this year also include troops from New Zealand and Japan. It officially opens on July 5.

About 27,000 troops are due to hit the ground at Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton and Darwin for the training exercise.

ALMOST 19,000 troops will be playing war games in the Territory and off the coast of Northern Australia in July as part of the Australian and US military exercise, Talisman Sabre.

The biennial event is the Australian Defence Force’s biggest combined military exercise.

Australian Army Brigadier Robert Brown said the Northern Territory part of Talisman Sabre had grown this year and would involve about 18,800 Navy, Army and Air Force personnel from Australia and the US.

“This year a larger portion of the exercise will be staged in the Top End,” he said.

“For 2015, the focus of the exercise, particularly air and maritime operations, will be in the North Australian Range Complex, Timor and Arafura seas however, a number of land activities will continue to be carried out at training areas in the East Australian Range Complex in Queensland.


“We continue to work with traditional owners to fine tune a staged beach landing at Fog Bay which will occur before the exercise moves into the vast Bradshaw Field Training Area on the Northern Territory and Western Australian border.”

A public open day will be held at the Darwin Showgrounds on July 5 and there will be heightened military activity in the Darwin region.

This year will be the sixth time the exercise has been conducted and will involve about 30,000 Australian and US participants with planning and military operations at sea, in the air, and on land.

The exercise will be run in the Northern Territory and Queensland from July 5 to 21.

Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) — its army — will send 40 personnel to participate in Talisman Sabre, a two-yearly drill that begins on July 7 which will involve around 27,000 servicemen, a spokesman told AFP.

"We will participate in joint exercises with the US Marines rather than operating directly with the Australian military," he said.

But the participation was seen as part of efforts to strengthen defence ties between Japan and Australia, he added.

The drill, which takes place in Australia, is intended to "improve tactical expertise in amphibian operations and to strengthen Japan-US interoperability", an army statement said.

News of Japan's participation came as tensions remain high in the region, with increasing criticism of China's behaviour in the South China Sea, where it has accelerated building artificial islands in disputed waters.

In July last year the United States, India and Japan held week-long war games in the Pacific.