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‘The Primary area of Military Interest’ – Understanding the Urban Littoral Environment in the Near Region Context The 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) states that ‘Australia’s army must be transformed and optimised for littoral manoeuvre’ as part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) transition from a balanced force to one focused on applying a strategy of denial. The ADF’s primary area of planning interest is to be the ‘immediate region encompassing the north-eastern Indian ocean through maritime …

The Question of Urban Position Minimum Strength Context Deploying a perimeter of detection, backed up by an appropriate response capability, is a key personnel-intensive requirement for gaining and retaining a secure Air or Sea Point of Entry (POE). As such, it is a critical Army enabling function for the Integrated Force to execute ‘anti-access/area denial’ (A2/AD) in the littoral as directed by the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) . Furthermore, almost invariably the POE will be urban, which means that any …

Better Innovation as a Catalyst for ‘Accelerated Preparedness’ through RAS Introduction The ever-evolving landscape of national security and the constant shift in strategic priorities demand that armies adapt swiftly and efficiently. As outlined in the 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) , the Australian Army is called upon to enhance its warfighting capability and self-reliance and optimise for littoral operations. Army is now part of a Joint Integrated Force with a focussed mission; achieving denial by …

Army’s Kill Chain and Targeting Automation for the Defence of Australia The fourth industrial revolution has heralded an era of artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and robotics that represents vast potential benefits for the Australian Army. [1] One key area that these innovations could aid is the Army’s growing indirect fires and targeting responsibilities. This is evident in four key areas. Firstly, new AI and robotic technologies can bridge the Army’s indirect firepower gap above the formation …

Automated Detection of Pre-Incident Indicators in Australian Emergency Response and Defence Capabilities In a world where the landscape of threats and vulnerabilities is constantly evolving, it is paramount for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to recognise that seemingly innocuous events may harbor deeper implications. The fundamental importance of this realisation lies in the fact that these innocuous events, often dismissed as insignificant, can potentially serve as the first ripples in a larger, …

In part one , this Post examined the concept of littoral manoeuvre including its reference within the 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) , the definition of the relevant terms and the capability of platforms used in the littoral domain. The article proposed that littoral manoeuvre should be a concept that represents the holistic capability of littoral manoeuvre vessels transporting land capabilities. As such, littoral manoeuvre is the use of the littoral to achieve positional advantage to influence the …

Littoral Manoeuvre is a major focus for this year’s research by the Australian Army Research Centre , a topic of the 2023 Chief of Army’s History Conference, and a core theme for  the next volume of the Australian Army Journal. Given its importance, this Land Power Forum post provides some background research regarding the term. It argues that the term ‘littoral’ reflects the projection of land power from the sea to the land, which in turn allows land capabilities to influence the sea. The use of the term …

‘Army’s approach to accelerated preparedness’ The scale, scope, concurrency and intensity of conceived future conflicts will require land force mobilisation. The allocation of resources to, across and between operations will vary as the strategic context and direction changes, and for which Army will need to be prepared. When the Government released the Defence Strategic Review 2023 , it called for ‘tangible enhancement to our warfighting capability and to self-reliance in National Defence’ through …

Australian policymakers have long recognised that the resilience of Southeast Asia, as a region bordering the nation’s northern approaches, is fundamental to Australia’s national security. Australian Army Occasional Paper 17 examines how the Australian defence community, with its extensive array of networks in Southeast Asia, can best engage the region in the years ahead.     … Occasional Paper 17 released - Southeast Asia’s Security …

New capabilities enabled by quantum sensors This post continues a series on quantum technologies. The 2023 Defence Strategic Review has brought into sharp focus the Indo-Australian Archipelago. This chain of islands could be a difficult untrusted littoral environment that Army must learn to work around, where of prominence is the need to know structure inside, under and next to islands and coastlines. Such structures can’t be seen using existing detection techniques. Furthermore, the extended nature of the …