06/05/2016: Australia’s first P-8A Poseidon aircraft has completed its maiden flight. The aircraft flew a short distance from Renton Airfield to Boeing Field in Washington State USA, to where the P-8A’s sophisticated mission systems will be installed as part of project AIR 7000. The $5.4 billion P-8A program will provide Australia’s…
05/26/2016: Australian Army soldiers have been ‘digging-in’ with members from the United States Marine Corps, US Army and the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force during Exercise Southern Jackaroo 16 at Shoalwater Bay north of Rockhampton from 14-30 May. The trilateral exercise has been combined with Brisbane 7th Brigade’s annual combined arms…
05/03/2016: As Air Commodore Heap, head of the Surveillance Response Group, noted in an interview with Second Line of Defense in March 2016: “We are small but we want to be capable of being a little Tasmanian Devil that you don’t want to play with because if you come at…
05/02/2016: The annual multilateral training Exercise Bersama Shield 16 has wrapped up in Malaysia and Singapore. The 12-day exercise saw the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) nations Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and the United Kingdom conduct joint maritime, land and air operations in a multi-threat environment from 18-29 April 2016.…
03/31/2016: When visiting Australia in March 2016, the Brussels terrorism events had a major impact on the debate in Australia about how to deal with the terrorist threat closer to home. The Prime Minister of Australia gave a hard hitting speech which highlighted a tough immigration policy coupled with enhanced counter-terrorism…
03/25/2016: The USNS Montford Point, an expeditionary transfer dock, floats off the coast of South Korea, March 17, 2016, during Exercise Ssang Yong 16, a biennial combined amphibious exercise between the armed forces of the Republic of Korea, U.S., Australia and New Zealand. An expeditionary transfer dock allows equipment and personnel…
02/14/2015: HMAS Melbourne deployed to the Middle East Region for Operation Manitou, Australia’s contribution to the US-led multi-national Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) on 9 August 2015. In her seven-month deployment, Melbourne made a significant impact on drug trafficking and enhanced maritime security in the region, seizing nearly one tonne of illegal…
01/05/2016: The 2nd Commando Regiment conducted a five day counter-terrorism training exercise in Sydney to rehearse the Australian Defence Force's (ADF) response capability to terrorist threats. Exercise Mars Olympics saw around 500 ADF members join forces with over 200 NSW Police and other emergency services to resolve a number of scenarios…
