Three new “littoral lift” groups,designed to transport weapons and personnel from ocean to land,will be created in Queensland and the Northern Territory,reflecting the defence strategic review’s finding that the army must focus on amphibious operations in Australia’s immediate region rather than land wars in the Middle East.
The defence strategic review,released in April,found the defence force was no longer “fit for purpose” and singled out the army as the military branch most in need of transformation to confront rising geostrategic tensions between the United States and China in Indo-Pacific.
Under the changes,about 800 troops are expected to move from Adelaide to Brisbane,Townsville and Darwin as tanks,armoured personnel carriers and full-time infantry are withdrawn from the South Australian capital.
Townsville,the big winner from the overhaul,will welcome up to 500 more troops,thanks to the consolidation of tanks,combat reconnaissance vehicles,infantry fighting vehicles and army helicopters in North Queensland.
The army is structured with broadly similar combat brigades,designed to allow troops to be rotated out of Middle Eastern war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Australian Defence Force already faces a major recruitment and retention crisis as it seeks to grow the number of uniformed troops by 18,500 by 2040,so the changes could further strain the military’s ability to attract and retrain staff.
Defence has previously struggled to convince military personnel to live in cities such as Darwin rather than Adelaide.