Defence News

For more than a century, Private Edward Attfield’s family knew Army had it wrong about their ancestor who fought at Gallipoli. He disappeared in mysterious circumstances while on leave in Cairo and was classified as a deserter when he didn’t report for duty.  At the time, authorities never connected the discovery of a murdered digger’s […]

Flying at low level, a No. 11 Squadron P-8A Poseidon hunts a silent simulated target beneath the waters of Guam as part of Exercise Sea Dragon 2022. Operating alongside the Republic of Korea, Japan, India, Canada, and the United States, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) team worked together to advance its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) […]

Army combat engineer Lieutenant Lauren Barclay started 2022 in a new role with a deployment on her first oversees operation. Lieutenant Barclay was hours into her first day as a troop commander at 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment in Brisbane when she had to recall soldiers from leave after the volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga. […]

Royal Australian Navy guided-missile destroyer HMAS Hobart has provided an impressive backdrop in the Derwent River for the 184th Royal Hobart Regatta from February 12-14.   No stranger to the region, Commanding Officer HMAS Hobart Commander Andrew Pepper said it was an honour to support such a vibrant community event.   “It’s a great feeling sailing home to Tasmania and I […]

Snipers from 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), started the new year with a week in the Wide Bay training area, near Gympie in Queensland, to true their weapons, bond in their small teams, and maintain the lethal accuracy they are known for.  ‘Truing’ is a highly mathematical process snipers undertake to finely tune […]

The Government of Tonga has expressed its gratitude for HMAS Adelaide’s delivery of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief stores by sending the ship a giant fresh fruit gift. Adelaide received dozens of bags of coconuts, pineapples, bananas and watermelons after Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni phoned Commanding Officer Captain Stuart Watters to send best wishes and acknowledge the Australian Defence […]

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has deployed aircraft and personnel to Guam and other islands in Micronesia to conduct Exercise Cope North 22 with the United States Air Force and the Koku-Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force). Exercise Cope North is a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training exercise held from February 2 to 18 […]

A Royal Australian Navy officer on a training exercise in the UK found himself in the middle of a real-life rescue. Lieutenant Dan Cochrane is an aviation warfare officer on a three-year exchange with the Royal Navy. The 33-year-old from Melbourne was taking part in a search and rescue training flight when the helicopter crew […]

The Royal Australian Air Force’s latest F/A-18F Super Hornet aircrews completed their operational conversion training late last year. Four new pilots and weapons systems officers completed the training with No. 82 Wing’s Training Flight at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland in early December.  The eight-month operational conversion course covers all facets of Super Hornet operations […]

The Australian Defence Force is supporting Tonga following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano on January 15.  Defence, as part of the whole-of-Australian Government effort coordinated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has established Operation Tonga Assist 2022.  The first Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III aircraft touched down […]