Responses tested for Asia-Pacific disaster relief
Updated
![Disaster response in the Asia-Pacific region, such as this rescue off Australia's coast, is the aim of exercises over the next few weeks. [Supplied: ADF]](http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/img/news/base/aus_rescue_adf_0711.jpg "Disaster response in the Asia-Pacific region, such as this rescue off Australia's coast, is the aim of exercises over the next few weeks. [Supplied: ADF]")
Disaster response in the Asia-Pacific region, such as this rescue off Australia's coast, is the aim of exercises over the next few weeks. [Supplied: ADF]
Personnel from nine countries are taking part in a military exercise off the coast of Darwin, training for disaster response in the Asia-Pacific region.
More than 2,000 sailors and airmen will use war ships, aircraft and submarines over the next few weeks to simulate an emergency situation in the Timor Sea.
Australian Navy captain Phillip Spedding says Exercise Kakadu allows naval personnel from countries including Australia, Singapore and Japan the chance to work together and set up emergency response procedures.
"We'll work through such things like how would we go about a collective response to a humanitarian assistance, or some form of disaster relief," he said.
"And we'll also look at how we do protection of the force alongside or at anchor.
"Then we'll go to sea and we'll start of doing fairly basic manoevering exercises to make sure we're safe and get used to working with each other."
