Special Reports

Cranbrook boarders at Red Leaf Pool, Double Bay

Cranbrook, NSW

Cranbrook’s two boarding houses are more than just a place to live, they are the beating heart of the school’s community.

BOARDING SCHOOLS GUIDESpecial reports

Submission from Xavier for boarding schools guide

Xavier College, Vic

At Xavier College we will strive to engender a love of learning that will last long after graduation from the college.

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Gunners from the 8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery fire 155mm rounds from the M777 howitzer as part of Exercise Predator's Run 2024, in Mt Bundey, NT. *** Local Caption *** Exercise Predator’s Run 2024 is the Australian Army 1st Brigade’s multilateral combined arms littoral exercise held in the Northern Territory, serving as the largest and most significant Littoral Manoeuvre Training event for Army in 2024. Soldiers from the Australian Army, United States Marine Corps’ Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, the United Kingdom’s Royal Marine Commandos and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conducted operations over 1000km of the Northern Territory from Nhulunbuy to Timber Creek, in littoral, field and urban environments.

Long-term recruitment a problem for the army

Since 2012 the ADF has consistently failed to meet yearly recruiting targets, and the army, in particular, is struggling. Total numbers are 59,194 – and we need to reach 80,000 by 2040.

Kym Bergmann

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Marines from he United States Marine Corps, Marine Rotational Force - Darwin conducted training serials from RAAF Base Darwin to Bradshaw training area utilising MV-22 Osprey Aircraft. *** Local Caption *** U.S. Marines conduct advanced training in Northern Territory. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) recently conducted a rigorous training exercise at Bradshaw Field Training Area in the Northern Territory. Utilising MV-22 Osprey aircraft for transportation, the focus of the training was on Ground Threat Reaction for the Osprey crews. The Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) Platoon provided threat simulation, achieving valuable air defence training outcomes. Key equipment used included: **IR Training Serials:** - **UV GRIFFEN-50:** Australian Defence Force (ADF) equipment that simulates aircraft missile warning systems. - **Stinger Sim:** USMC's LAAD training equipment designed for target acquisition and lock exercises. - **Smokey Sam:** USMC equipment used to visually indicate missile launches to aircraft crews. Australian training areas and equipment allow the USMC to achieve training outcomes that are very difficult to replicate elsewhere. This exercise was also noted as a particularly valuable training exercise for the LAAD Platoon, highlighting the significant mutual training benefit of integrated Ground Threat Reaction training activities for both ground forces and aircrew.

NT joint exercises essential for maintaining combat readiness

The MV-22B Ospreys of the current US Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D 24-3) proved their unique capabilities in two major multilateral exercises across Australia’s north in July.

Nigel Pittaway

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

United States Army 17th Field Artillery Brigade High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) during the Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 firepower demonstration at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland. *** Local Caption *** Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 is being conducted across northern Australia from 22 July to 4 August. More than 30,000 military personnel from 13 nations will directly participate in Talisman Sabre 2023, primarily in Queensland but also in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales. Talisman Sabre is the largest Australia-US bilaterally planned, multilaterally conducted exercise and a key opportunity to work with likeminded partners from across the region and around the world. Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany are all participating in Talisman Sabre 2023 with the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand attending as observers. Occurring every two years, Talisman Sabre reflects the closeness of our alliance and strength of our enduring military relationship with the United States and also our commitment to working with likeminded partners in the region. Now in its tenth iteration, Talisman Sabre provides an opportunity to exercise our combined capabilities to conduct high-end, multi-domain warfare, to build and affirm our military-to-military ties and interoperability, and strengthen our strategic partnerships.

Scaling up our defence industry must become an urgent priority

The 2023 Defence Strategic Review appears to have rung alarm bells loud enough to shake us all up – politicians, military leaders, civil servants, industry participants, and commentators alike.

JOEL FITZGIBBON

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

An Australian M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank from 2nd Cavalry Regiment during Exercise Brolga Sprint 24 at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland, on 09 June 2024. *** Local Caption *** Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade conducted Exercise Brolga Sprint at Townsville Field Training Area alongside the United States Army and Marine Corps. Exercise Brolga Sprint 2024 is a combined arms live fire activity where infantry, armour, artillery and combat engineers work together to achieve the mission set. M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment joined the Brigade counter attack as part of the live fire exercise.

Abrams M1A2 tank an essential element in combined arms fight

The first of 75 new Abrams main battle tanks for the army are expected to be delivered before the end of the year.

Nigel Pittaway

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

This handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian Pesidential press service on August 24, 2024, shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking during the 33rd Independence Day ceremony at Saint Sophia Square, in Kyiv on August 24, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEI CHUZAVKOV / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /UKRANIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

‘Give us the tools, and we will finish the job’

Kyiv’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, which began on August 6, was both politically and militarily audacious.

PETER TESCH

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

The National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System fires an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile during it's first ever Australian live-fire at Woomera Test Range in South Australia on 14 November 2023. *** Local Caption *** Soldiers from the 16th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, conducted the first live-fire of the recently-acquired enhanced National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) at Woomera Test Range in South Australia 13-15 November 2023. NASAMS is a short-range, ground based air defence that delivers an enhanced force protection system for the Australian Army. It is the first element of the ADF's Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) program to be delivered into service, and demonstrates tangible progress of Army's response to the Defence Strategic Review with an increased focus on fires capabilities.

Lack of integrated air and missile defence leaves our bases exposed

The 2023 DSR stated that ‘Defence must deliver a layered integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) operational capability urgently…’, but there appears to be no significant effort towards addressing that.

MALCOLM DAVIS

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) prepares to moor at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia. Picture: US Navy Photo, Petty Officer 1st Class Victoria Mejicanos

AUKUS nuclear submarines will also be a game-changer for the army

The Australian Army will need to be able to conduct special operations with submarine support in our region – as we did in the Pacific War.

ANDREW HASTIE

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Two Australian Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters are unloaded from a United States Air Force C17 Globemaster III, at RAAF Base Richmond, Sydney. *** Local Caption *** In early 2023, Defence announced the decision to acquire 40 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for the Australian Army through a Foreign Military Sales case with the United States. Australia continues to receive extraordinary levels of support from the United States Government and Army to deliver the Black Hawk capability. 12 aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to Australia by the end of this year. All 40 aircraft are scheduled for delivery by 2029. The UH-60M Black Hawk fleet will be based out of Oakey, Queensland and Holsworthy, New South Wales.

Army aviation transforms with switch to Black Hawks, Apaches

The army is well down the path of a generational change of combat helicopter capability based on the early retirement of the European Taipan and Tiger fleets.

Kym Bergmann

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

BAE Systems STrix UAS protoype for LAND FORCES report

A passionate call to arms for the defence industry

BAE Systems Australia is focused on continuing to deliver and sustain critically important technologies, including large and complex programs, some of them spanning decades.

KISA CHRISTENSEN

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Some images for the GWEO story. These are all images of the GMLRS missile and the HiMARS launcher

Test-firing a crucial step on the road to a local missile industry

Australia is well and truly on a path to having a guided weapons production capability by the end of this decade.

GREGOR FERGUSON

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

SYPAQâs Corvo drones, made of waxed cardboard and rubber bands, have been shipped to Ukraine by the hundreds. Picture: SYPAQQ Systems

DSTG aims to deliver ‘speed to capability’

Defence’s Science and Technology Group (DSTG), has added innovation – turning good ideas into something usable – to its traditional strong focus on science and technology.

GREGOR FERGUSON

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Redback IFV at the opening of the Geelong facility.

Korean factory a welcome boost for artillery

South Korean industrial giant Hanwha is now the largest single contractor by value for the Australian Army, and on August 23 it opened a state-of-the-art factory close to Geelong.

Kym Bergmann

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

An Army CH-47 Chinook takes off after dropping off a M777 Howitzer from 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland. *** Local Caption *** Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 is being conducted across northern Australia from 22 July to 4 August. More than 30,000 military personnel from 13 nations will directly participate in Talisman Sabre 2023, primarily in Queensland but also in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales. Talisman Sabre is the largest Australia-US bilaterally planned, multilaterally conducted exercise and a key opportunity to work with likeminded partners from across the region and around the world. Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany are all participating in Talisman Sabre 2023 with the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand attending as observers. Occurring every two years, Talisman Sabre reflects the closeness of our alliance and strength of our enduring military relationship with the United States and also our commitment to working with likeminded partners in the region. Now in its tenth iteration, Talisman Sabre provides an opportunity to exercise our combined capabilities to conduct high-end, multi-domain warfare, to build and affirm our military-to-military ties and interoperability, and strengthen our strategic partnerships.

Alliances enhance domestic training

Key military alliances are providing enhanced training opportunities across the country for both the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and its regional allies and partners.

Nigel Pittaway

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

HMAS Sydney fires Royal Australian Navy’s first Naval Strike Missile during a SINKEX off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii as a part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. *** Local Caption *** The Royal Australian Navy has accelerated Naval Strike Missile installation in Surface Combatants which culminated in the 18 Jul live firing demonstration off the coast of Hawaii during Exercise RIMPAC 2024. This is aligned to Government Direction announced in the 2022 Defence Strategic Review and in the 2024 National Defence Strategy.

Long-range strike missiles to be manufactured in Australia

The efforts to equip the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with long-range missiles is picking up pace.

Kym Bergmann

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Terence Avadiar - Engineer, Luke Phersson - Senior Engineer, Calum Conduit - Engineer for QinetiQ sponsored content page

Building a sovereign test and evaluation enterprise

The establishment of Defence’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) enterprise requires a rigorous test and evaluation capability to support the new weapons being acquired.

Nigel Pittaway

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Wednesday 21st August 2024.The Australian.Amanda Holt is the Chief Executive Officer of SYPAQ, a leading engineering and systems integration who makes the cardboard drones for Ukraine.Photograph by Arsineh Houspian.

Not an experiment, but mission capability

A small Melbourne company predicted the Defence ban on the Chinese-made DJI drone family and funded its own R&D program to build the high-security quad-copter instead.

Gregor Ferguson

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Land Forces 2024 showcases a range of technologies, from military vehicles, medical and health to simulation and robotics.

World-class military exposition is back – bigger and better than ever

The Land Forces 2024 International Land Defence Exposition is a platform for engagement between government, defence and the industry that provides and sustains Australia’s military capability.

LAND FORCES 2024Special reports

Bushmaster Armoured Vehicle with Remote Weapon System

Aligned in purpose: exporting for Australia’s strategic defence resilience

Australia’s strategic objectives emphasise the critical importance of a resilient sovereign defence industrial base. Achieving this requires a multifaceted approach, including the growth of our defence exports.

Andreas Schwer

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/special-reports/page/4