Defence Australia

Official account of Defence Australia. #YourADF Home of #AusNavy, #AusArmy, #AusAirForce and #OurAPS. Terms of use

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Anson departs 🌊

The @RoyalNavy's HMS Anson has departed 📍 HMAS Stirling, WA, following a submarine maintenance period.

This was the first visit by an Astute class submarine to Australia since October 2021 and the first time a UK SSN has performed a maintenance activity in Australia. 🇦🇺 🇬🇧

#YourADF #StrongerTogether @Australian_Navy

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Anson departs 🌊

The @RoyalNavy's HMS Anson has departed 📍 HMAS Stirling, WA, following a submarine maintenance period.

This was the first visit by an Astute class submarine to Australia since October 2021 and the first time a UK SSN has performed a maintenance activity in Australia. 🇦🇺 🇬🇧

📷 CPOIS Nina Fogliani & LSIS Shaun Chatfield

#YourADF #StrongerTogether @Australian_Navy

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Clearance divers silence the ghosts of war 🌊 🇦🇺 🇹🇻

The @Australian_Navy's HMAS Diamantina and Yarra are on their way to Tuvalu as part of Operation Render Safe.

At the request of the Government of Tuvalu, clearance divers will conduct a technical survey of Nanumea Lagoon. This survey will inform the Government of Tuvalu of the extent of explosive remnants of war for future disposal.

#YourADF

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Geometry that cuts through the night sky 🦅 🥷

Australia’s next generation of air warfare experts have demonstrated mastery in integrated air power alongside the USAF B-2 Stealth bomber as part of Exercise Diamond Storm.

Exercise Diamond Storm is the fourth exercise in the Air Warfare Instructor Course (AWIC) and includes support from the @usairforce and @USMC across the Northern Territory.

#YourADF #StrongerTogether @AusAirForce

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Aloha, Pearl Harbor 👋 The @Australian_Navy's HMAS Sydney has arrived at 📍 Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, where the ship and her crew will participate in Exercise RIMPAC 2026.

@RimofthePacific will run from June 24 to July 31, comprising of:
3️⃣1️⃣ Nations
4️⃣0️⃣ Surface ships
5️⃣ Submarines
1️⃣4️⃣0️⃣ Aircraft
2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ Personnel

#YourADF #AusNavy

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

After 18 weeks of intensive training, members of New Entry Officers Course (NEOC) 77 have graduated, marking a significant milestone in their @Australian_Navy careers. 🎓

NEOC is the initial officer training course for permanent members and inter-service transfers up to and including Leading Seaman (E) in rank. ⚓

#YourADF #AusNavy

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

🦘 & 🥝 swap skills in the Pacific 🔃

Sailors from the @Australian_Navy’s HMAS Sydney and Royal New Zealand Navy’s HMNZS Te Mana conducted a cross-deck exercise in the 📍 South Pacific Ocean during their transit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for @RimofthePacific. 🇦🇺 🇳🇿

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/Fwi7O1CPVQ

#YourADF #StrongerTogether @NZDefenceForce

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Strengthening air power 🇦🇺 🤝 🇺🇸

The Aircraft Research and Development Unit hosted the @USAirForce Test Pilot School in Australia at 📍 RAAF Base Williamtown, NSW.

For decades, the @AusAirForce has sent pilots, mission aircrew and engineers to undertake the rigorous, year-long Test Pilot School program in the United States. ✈️

The program equips graduates with the advanced skills required to operate in complex test and evaluation environments, and plays a critical role in shaping and assuring Air Force capability.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/a1lQhoqSCB

#YourADF #AusAirForce #StrongerTogether

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

A father’s pride, a family’s sacrifice, and a moment that brought a nation together. 🇦🇺 ⚽

WO Grant Metcalfe reflects on watching his son Connor score for Australia – and the resilience it took to get there. “You won’t have success every day – it’s how you respond that matters.”

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/nRrpcSdCD1

#YourADF @Socceroos

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

A chance encounter in France brings a WWI soldier’s story home to Melbourne.

@CJC_ADF recently visited 94-year-old Dr Pat Phair (née Johansen) in her 📍 Brighton home to honour her uncle, WWI signaller Lance Corporal Henrick Johansen.

The invitation came about when Lieutenant General Coyle delivered a commemorative address on Anzac Day at the Bullecourt Digger Memorial in France. She spoke about the Victorian-born soldier and afterwards, met members of his family by chance.

Sitting together in her Melbourne home, Dr Phair shared her uncle's story with Lieutenant General Coyle, as she has with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Their meeting is a powerful reminder that behind every name in history is a family keeping their legacy alive.

Read more 📰 https://t.co/BbeqZfWaPv

#YourADF

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Global leaders unite 💪

The Fleet Commanders Round Table is an annual event hosted by @COMAUSFLT that brings together fleet commanders from nine countries to discuss key topics impacting Australia and its allies.

This year’s participating nations are Australia 🇦🇺, Canada 🇨🇦, France 🇫🇷, Japan 🇯🇵, Korea 🇰🇷, New Zealand 🇳🇿, the Philippines 🇵🇭, the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 and the United States of America 🇺🇸. 🌊

#YourADF #AusNavy #StrongerTogether @Australian_Navy @RoyalCanNavy @MarineNationale @JMSDF_PAO @NZNavy @Philippine_Navy
@RoyalNavy @USNavy

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Drone swarms: the future of autonomous warfare?

As part of the Army Warfighting Experiment 2026, swarms of drones buzzed over the English countryside, autonomously picking out targets among woodlands.

They were programmed by Australian, United States and British soldiers testing drone-swarming tactics to explore the future of autonomous warfare as part of AUKUS Pillar II.

Operating in challenging conditions on Salisbury Plain, they explored how drone swarms could conduct coordinated missions using artificial intelligence.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/6yKMDY4RvE

#YourADF

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Same mission, different era ✈️

Operation Gateway is one of Australia’s longest-running Defence operations.

It has been bringing Australia and Malaysia together in support of regional security since 1980, with the first mission in 1981.

In the most recent Operation Gateway rotation, three @AusAirForce P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft deployed to Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth in 📍 Malaysia in June.

Swipe through to see how Operation Gateway has evolved over four and a half decades. ➡️

📷 LAC Campbell Latch

#YourADF #StrongerTogether

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Senior Defence leaders will address the ASPI Defence Conference in 📍 Canberra on 25 June. Discussions will cover regional security, industrial capacity and operational readiness.

🔗 Register for the event via the link below.

#YourADF

[ASPI @ASPI_org]

📢 Registrations now open for the 2026 ASPI Defence Conference.

Join policymakers, military leaders and experts in Canberra on 25 June to discuss strengthening deterrence, building credible capability & reinforcing collective security.

🎟️ Register here: https://t.co/1vCyK9PEjo

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

A month-long joint recovery operation has concluded in 📍 Gapyeong, Republic of Korea, to locate the remains of Australian Army Corporal William Murphy, who died during the Korean War.

Launched on the 75th anniversary of the historic Battle of Kapyong, this intensive excavation at the former C-Company defensive position was a powerful display of enduring international mateship.

The operation was co-led by South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification and the @AustralianArmy, with significant support from the @ROK_MND 66th Infantry Division.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/NbSTNvC5WE

#YourADF #AusArmy @UN_Command @AusAmbROK

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

HMA Ships Yarra and Diamantina departed Sydney for 📍 Cairns on 8 June to commence Operation Render Safe. Crews completed emergency protocols and diver training during the transit.

Alongside ADV Reliant, Navy personnel will deploy to Tuvalu to survey Nanumea Lagoon for unexploded WWII ordnance. The deployment includes port visits to Honiara and Port Vila.

The ADF has been working with Pacific partners to build regional collective explosive ordnance disposal capability through Operation Render Safe for more than 20 years.

#YourADF @Australian_Navy @dfat

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Australia's largest ever defence export 🇦🇺 ✍️ 🇨🇦

Australia has signed a $2.5 billion agreement with Canada to export an Australian Over the Horizon Radar (OTHR) system.

The two nations' defence organisations have worked together to develop requirements for Canada’s Arctic-Over the Horizon Radar (A-OTHR) capability. BAE Systems Australia is set to commence delivery of this capability on 1 July.

This agreement underscores a commitment to building an enduring partnership that strengthens capability and security outcomes for both countries.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/VGEUHy3Db8

#YourADF @DFAT @NationalDefence @canadadownunder @AusHCCanada

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

World First!

@AusAirForce has become the first military in the world to successfully conduct a joint Weapon Fill Measurement Vehicle (WFMV) flight test on the F-35A Lightning II. ✈️ ⚡

In collaboration with US partners, this milestone will accelerate weapon integration, boosting the lethality and readiness of our 5th generation air combat capability.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/XSG2sDFpd2

#YourADF

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

📍 Townshend Island, QLD

Sixteen metres below the surface of Townshend Island, the digging stopped, not because the crew had finished their job, but because it wasn’t safe to go further.

Using a Ferrex detector, a team of @AusAirForce explosive ordnance disposal technicians found a ‘hit’, indicating unexploded ordnance further beneath the ground.

Excavators slowly clawed away the earth, chasing the reading down to find an Mk-83 1000-pound bomb.

The Mk-83, containing more than 200 kilograms of high explosive, is capable of destroying fuel depots, aircraft on the ground and lightly hardened structures.

Unable to remove the bomb, the team’s next option was to detonate it in place.

This was just one of the challenges for 65 Air Base Recovery Squadron and US counterparts who remediated the island off the Queensland coast.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/jbucGdgVGn

#YourADF #AusArmy

[Defence Australia @DefenceAust]

Engineering Navy for the future

Robotics and 3D printing were among the new technologies being adapted to solve a realistic @Australian_Navy engineering problem under a program designed to reinvigorate the Navy Engineering Challenge (NEC).

Navy collaborated with @Deakin University at its Waurn Ponds campus to run the challenge, which combined technical personnel in a team-based practical activity, from June 1 to 5.

Read more ➡️ https://t.co/YLdBRhtZk2

#YourADF