ADF capability review: Australian Army

• Andrew Davies, Mark Thomson
• Australian Strategic Policy Institute

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07 May 2008The Australian Army is small by regional standards and tiny given the size of our continent. This paper is the second in the series of capability snapshots produced by ASPI towards the Rudd Government's new Defence White Paper. With over 27,000 permanent and almost 16,000 part-time Reserve personnel, the Australian Army is small by regional standards and tiny given the size of our continent. Structured as a standing force rather than a mobilisation base, the Army is designed to be able to deploy and sustain a brigade group of around 3,000 troops indefi nitely while retaining the capacity to deploy a battalion group of around 1,000 temporarily. Larger scale deployments are possible for a limited duration—as occurred to East Timor in 1999—or for extended periods if the current six-month troop rotation policy is relaxed.

The Rudd Government is developing a Defence White Paper that aims to align resources, capability and strategic aims. To provide a baseline for discussions of options for future force structures, ASPI will produce a series of capability snapshots that discuss current and planned capabilities, and any significant shortfalls. This paper is the second in the series and it reviews the capability of the Australian Army. Future papers will review the capabilities of the Air Force and ADF C4ISR.