Sea state

Defence Minister Richard Marles visited the Maldives in early June and announced a present of one Guardian-class patrol boat and hydrographic equipment. They are expected to be delivered in 2026. Australia has an established patrol boat program for Pacific islands, but this is the first in the Indian Ocean. The visit follows last year’s inaugural Australia-Maldives Defence Policy Talks.

In late June the destroyer HMAS Sydney and patrol ship HMS Spey conducted what’s understood to be the first joint Australian-British freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea. The ships sailed around the Spratly Islands in support of the 2016 UN arbitration ruling that rejected China’s claim to the area. Chinese officials described the operation as a ‘distortion of legal principles’. The ships will sail on to Darwin to take part in Talisman Sabre joint exercises.

Flight path

On 26 June, Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force deployed an MQ-28A Ghost Bat to an operational RAAF base for the first time. The MQ-28A design is a next-generation unmanned collaborative combat aircraft, developed by Boeing and the RAAF in Australia. It’s the first Australian-developed combat aircraft since World War II. The deployment occurred during Exercise Carlsbad at RAAF Tindal in the Northern Territory, marking a key milestone in demonstrating the aircraft’s operational readiness and adaptability.

Indra Australia has delivered 11 instrument landing systems and six non-directional beacons across several Australian Defence Force sites. These updates are set to improve safety and operational efficiency at airfields. The instrument landing systems provide precise lateral and vertical guidance to pilots during landings, while the non-directional beacons serve as radio transmitters to support navigation. Delivered in partnership with IDEC Solutions, the project highlights Indra’s ongoing commitment to enhancing Australia’s defence infrastructure and modernising its air navigation capabilities.

Rapid fire

The Australian Army conducted live-fire tests at Woomera last month to certify the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile for a surface-to-air role. The Royal Australian Air Force has fielded the Sidewinder in an air-to-air capacity for decades. Now, using the army’s newly-acquired National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System launchers, it’ll be able to play a role in short-range air and missile defence, a priority identified in last year’s Integrated Investment Program.

The first-ever combined training exercise between the Australian and Philippine armies wrapped up on Mindanao last week. Ninety Australian soldiers, alongside 140 Philippine infantry and combat engineers spent a month training in urban and jungle warfare, as well as combat casualty care, jungle survival and reconnaissance operations. Officials from both nations reaffirmed the strategic partnership and bilateral commitment to peace and security.

Final frontier

Gilmour Space Technologies is preparing for the second launch attempt of its Eris rocket, with a window between 1 and 3 July at the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland. This follows an aborted launch in May where a power surge affected the rocket’s carbon-fibre nose cone. Since then, chief executive Adam Gilmour has confirmed that the space launcher has undergone comprehensive retesting. It comes shortly after Gilmour’s debut launch of its ElaraSat satellite bus on 24 June.

On 27 June, the Department of Defence issued a request for information for a satellite communications capability. The new project, named SPA9102, replaces the $3 billion JP9102 project which was unexpectedly axed to ‘change direction’ in 2024. The new project aims to enhance the ADF’s satellite communications infrastructure, but addresses a specific capability challenge in terms of managing electromagnetic interference for narrowband ultra-high frequency satellite communications. Since SPA9102 is an exploratory proposal rather than a plan for a complete system, as JP9102 was, it’s not clear what capability it will produce.

Wired watchtower

As part of a $20 million support package, Australia will provide Solomon Islands with cybersecurity assistance to help safeguard the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in September. This underscores Australia’s commitment to regional cyber defence amid growing digital vulnerabilities, especially as it emerged last year that the PIF Secretariat had been the victim of an extensive cyber-espionage campaign, which Australian government experts attributed to Chinese threat actors. The package also includes vehicles and expanded aerial surveillance to address broader security challenges, such as illegal fishing.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre issued a critical alert for security vulnerabilities in Citrix's NetScaler ADC and Gateway software on 20 June. Such software platforms play an important role in many government systems, including Defence’s remote electronic access services, which allow authorised personnel to access Defence’s protected network from non-protected devices. The vulnerabilities could allow attackers to bypass login protections, extract data or take control of exposed systems. The ACSC urged immediate patching and removal of affected versions of Citrix software to reduce the risk of compromise.