USS Fitzgerald departs naval base HMAS Kuttabul in Australia

Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac-class frigate HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) navigation officer, LEUT. Harrison Rees, right, guides U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) commanding officer, Cmdr. Paul Richardson, through Sydney Harbor while Fitzgerald departs RAN naval base HMAS Kuttabul in support of Exercise Kakadu 2026, in Sydney Harbor, March 30, 2026. Exercise Kakadu is the Royal Australian Navy’s premier exercise and provides an opportunity for regional nations to participate in multinational maritime activities. U.S. 7th Fleet, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific. Fitzgerald is forward-deployed and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest DESRON and U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Dimal)