The 2016 Defence White Paper is a

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white pape ...

published by the Australian

Department of Defence Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

outlining a strategic plan for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) over the following decade. The paper describes the need for improvement in the capabilities of the ADF, and includes a commitment to A$195 billion in spending on new equipment and resources, as well as plans for restructure and review of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

, the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

and the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

Background

The first Defence White Paper was published in 1976 under the Whitlam government, and new papers were published in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2009 and 2013. The Department of Defence issued a

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

on 4 April 2014 stating that it had been instructed to develop a new white paper.

Recommendations

Strategic objectives

The paper outlines three "Strategic Defence Interests" as fundamentals for further planning: #A "secure, resilient Australia"the capability to "deter, deny and defeat" an attack on Australian territory by a foreign military power. A key part of this objective is Australia's military alliance with the United States. #A "secure nearer region"including security partnerships with the governments and militaries of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Timor Leste East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-wes ...

, and other Pacific island nations. #A "stable Indo-Pacific region and rules based global order"primarily, addressing rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, including the increased military power of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Acquisitions

The paper sets out a number of specific intended purchases of

materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specif ...

and weaponry over the following 20 years, though some had been announced prior to the release of the paper. These include: *12 new submarines, described as "regionally superior" by Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

, to replace the

Collins class submarine The ''Collins''-class submarines are Australian-built Diesel-electric transmission, diesel-electric submarines operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ''Collins'' class takes its name from Australian Vice Admiral John Augustine Collins; ...

s *8 Boeing P-8 Poseidon

maritime surveillance {{Unreferenced, date=March 2008 Maritime patrol is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities. Maritime patrol refers to ac ...

aircraft, and a further 7 aircraft of similar design *12 surface vessels, including 3

Hobart-class destroyer The ''Hobart'' class is a ship class of three air warfare destroyers (AWDs) built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Planning for ships to replace the ''Adelaide''-class frigates and restore the capability last exhibited by the ''Perth''-cla ...

s and 9 frigates of a new design *12 "offshore patrol vessels" to replace the

Armidale-class patrol boat The ''Armidale'' class is a class of patrol boats built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Planning for a class of vessels to replace the fifteen s began in 1993 as a joint project with the Royal Malaysian Navy, but was cancelled when Malays ...

s *7

MQ-4C Triton The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton is an American high-altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) under development for the United States Navy as a surveillance aircraft. Together with its associated ground control station, it is an ...

surveillance

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

*72

F-35A Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

Joint Strike Fighter Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands ...

s *A new ground-based radar system *1,100

Hawkei The Hawkei is a light four-wheel-drive protected mobility vehicle originally designed to meet an Australian Defence Force (ADF) requirement for a light armoured patrol vehicle to replace some of its Land Rover Perentie variants. The Hawkei is ...

infantry mobility vehicle An infantry mobility vehicle (IMV) is a wheeled armored personnel carrier (APC) serving as a military patrol, reconnaissance or security vehicle. Examples include the ATF Dingo, Iveco LMV, Oshkosh M-ATV, AMZ Dzik, AMZ Tur, Mungo ESK, and B ...

s, and later a replacement for the

Bushmaster IMV } The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian-built four-wheel drive armoured vehicle. The Bushmaster was primarily designed by the then government-owned Australian Defence Industries (ADI), and is cur ...

*A new

rocket artillery Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rocket explosives as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also ...

system with a range of up to *2 additional KC-30A air-to-air refuelling aircraft *3

CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, C ...

helicopters *2 new replenishment vessels

References

External links

* Australian defence policies Defence reviews and defence white papers {{Australia-mil-stub