Northern Australia has become Australia’s principal strategic operating base. As the nation’s forward line of deterrence and power projection, its ability to support sustained military operations will be critical in any future crisis or conflict. If deterrence fails, Australia’s capacity to generate, sustain and recover combat power will depend not simply on individual bases or capabilities, but on the resilience of the interconnected systems that underpin northern defence.

This report introduces the Preparedness, Resilience and Redundancy scorecard – a framework for assessing northern defence as an integrated operational ecosystem rather than a collection of stand-alone projects or capabilities. The scorecard provides policymakers, defence planners and industry with a decision-support framework to identify systemic vulnerabilities, prioritise investment and strengthen Australia’s ability to sustain military operations under pressure. 

The scorecard evaluates three complementary dimensions of operational readiness:

• preparedness – the extent to which systems are planned, resourced and ready before disruption occurs
• resilience – the capacity of systems to absorb shocks, adapt under stress and continue supporting operations
• redundancy – the availability of alternative pathways, backup capacity and surge mechanisms that prevent local disruption from cascading into operational failure.