May 2021

HMAS Parramatta has joined French Navy Marine Nationale vessels FS Tonnerre and FS Surcouf — operating as the Jeanne d’Arc Task Group — to complete a cooperative passage through the South China Sea.  The Sydney-based Anzac class frigate had recently completed the Japan-led Exercise Arc21 with Tonnerre and Surcouf also taking part.  The three ships conducted a range of training activities, including communication exercises, replenishment-at-sea approaches, maritime manoeuvers […]

The new Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles are being put to the test in the largest exercise they have operated in since being introduced into the Army. The vehicles are being used in the 7th Brigade-led Exercise Diamond Walk at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland.  Trooper Harrison Dietrich, a gunner on the Boxer, said the crews […]

Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Anzac has returned home, marking the end of an extended deployment that culminated in the ship re-tasked to support a critical search and rescue effort. The Anzac-class frigate departed Australia with HMAS Sirius in early March for a deployment throughout South-East Asia and the Northeast Indian Ocean.  Originally due to return to her homeport of […]

Air Force has deployed approximately 50 aircraft and over 500 personnel to the Northern Territory for Exercise Arnhem Thunder 21. As one of Air Force’s largest domestic training exercises for 2021, Arnhem Thunder provides important force generation training, focusing on high-end collective training and involving multiple Force Element Groups (FEGs). Commander Air Combat Group, Air Commodore […]

HMAS Sydney has successfully completed her combat system sea qualification trials in the Southern Californian Exercise Area. Sydney deployed to North America in March for five months to test her weapons and sensors, supported by US Navy weapons range analysis experts. The tests required Sydney to track, target and engage air and surface targets. Sydney’s crew demonstrated the accuracy of her […]

Defence has announced the appointment of the new Deputy Chief of Army (DCA). Currently the head of Defence People Group, Major General Natasha Fox will assume the role of DCA in January 2022 after a career which has included a variety of key strategic roles. Major General Fox joined the ADF in 1988, graduating from The […]

Ping. Snap. The two sounds rang out in quick succession as a radar lets a soldier know it had spotted movement on the water. Another operator then finds the vessel and photographs it. Within minutes, information on the boat is passed to Canberra, while local Australian Border Force (ABF) officers move to where the vessel […]

An Air Force C-17A Globemaster III airlifted Vietnamese military personnel and equipment to Africa in support of Vietnam’s contribution to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The airlift support between late March and late April allowed Vietnam to complete an important rotation of its UNMISS Level Two Field Hospital personnel. Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant […]