How Army is shifting its focus

In an era of growing uncertainty, Army is transforming to ensure it can contribute to the defence of Australia and its interests.

Geopolitical tensions and instability have broadened and intensified to levels not seen since the Cold War, according to the 2026 National Defence Strategy.

Guided by this strategic shift, Army has issued its updated capstone document, The Australian Army’s Contribution to the National Defence Strategy 2026, which charts a direction for how it will support national defence priorities and contribute to a more integrated and capable ADF.

The document defines Army’s role – what it does, why it matters – and how it is transforming to meet the demands of today’s strategic environment.

At its core are four key requirements shaping Army’s contribution: fight and win in the littorals; strike at long range; win the close fight on, from and onto land; and integrate with the ADF, with allies and partners, and with sovereign industry.

To deliver this, Army has shifted its operational focus to the coasts, beaches, jungles and rivers of the littorals – the areas of the sea that influence the land, and the areas of the land that influence the sea.

Soldiers have been equipped with new capabilities: landing craft and helicopters; long-range missile capabilities to strike threats at unprecedented ranges; cutting-edge armoured fighting vehicles and drones; and land communications and battlespace management systems poised for the age of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Army’s transformation is framed around a central idea of ‘continual adaptation’.

War has always been a contest, and those that are fastest and most effective to adapt tend to prevail.

‘Change’ is not adequate – the Army must be re-wired for continual adaptation.

This transformation directly supports the cornerstone of the NDS: the Strategy of Denial – deterring and preventing adversaries from projecting power against Australia.

Outgoing CA Lt-Gen Simon Stuart said Army’s pace of change was generationally significant.

“The Australian Army – your Army – is rapidly transforming to meet this direction. We are a very different fighting force to the one that commenced this decade,” Lt-Gen Stuart said.

“We are demonstrating every day – at home and abroad – the Army’s essential, enduring and unique contribution to Australia’s Strategy of Denial. The nation needs us to adapt and deliver, and we are doing both – rapidly, faithfully and credibly.”

In the past three years, Army has progressed its largest modernisation and restructure since World War II, but its role and readiness to serve the nation remains unchanged.

“Our role is explicit: we are the ADF’s experts in land combat. Our mission is set: prepare land power in order to enable the integrated force in competition and conflict,” Lt-Gen Stuart said.

“We exist to fight and win Australia’s wars. But how we fight is evolving – fast.”

From providing long-range strike from the land, to protecting critical infrastructure and sea lines of communication, from fighting for key terrain, to supporting regional stability, Army’s transformation and contribution to national defence is central to defending Australia’s security and prosperity.

Read the document at: www.army.gov.au/our-work/strategy/australianarmy-contribution-national-defence-strategy-2026