Australia

Capital: Canberra

Major cities: Melbourne

Sydney

Perth

Historical
The aboriginal people of Australia lived in relative peace for thousands of years.
Australia was initially used as a penal colony by the British to hold heir criminals.
The white settlers began to move further and further in land displacing the aboriginal Australians. Similar to how whites in the U.S. displaced the native people, many aboriginal Australians no longer live on their traditional lands and many live in poverty. The white population on the other hand, as in the U.S., have enjoyed the fruits of stealing other peoples lands and the resources on the land.

16 NOV 2011- An entire U.S. marine Task Force, approximately 2,500 troops, are to be stationed in Australia.

Military presence in Papua New Guinea?

Military presence in East Timor?

Part of the ANZUS defense pact between Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The pact binds Australia with New Zealand and the U.S. with Australia, separately.

Military Forces

28,000 active duty

40,000 reserve

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)

17,375 personnel

F/A-18F Super Hornet (replaced the F-111 fighter bomber aircraft)-24

F/A-18 Hornet (71)

AP-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft (19)

Boeing Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft (2)

BAe Hawk trainer aircraft (33)

PC-9 trainer aircraft (67)

Beechcraft King Air light transport utility aircraft (8)

UH-1 helicopters

C-17 Globemaster III heavy transport aircraft (5)

C-130H Hercules transport aircraft (8)

C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft (12)

Airbus KC-30 Multi-role taker transport aircraft (2)

Boeing 737 AEW aircraft

AGM-142 air launched cruise missiles for the F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft. The AGM-142 has a 78 km (48 mile) range.

IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (3)

Skylark unmanned aerial vehicles?

RAAF Base Amberley

Airfield defense guards. Wear blue grey berets.

Royal Australian Navy (RAN)

14,215 personnel

Australian Naval Ensign

Australian Naval Jack

Frigates (10)

Collins Class Submarines (6)

Armidale Class Patrol Boats (14)

Mine Warfare Vessels (6)

Landing Ship, Heavy (1)
HMAS Tobruk (L50)

Landing Craft, Heavy (3)

Balikpapan Class

Bay Class landing ship dock (1)
HMAS Choules (L100)

Hydrographic Survey vessel (6)

Replenishment Ships (2)

S-70 Seahawk helicopters (15)

Eurocopter Ecureuil helicopters used for training (6)

Bell 429 helicopters used for training (3)

SH-3 Sea King helicopters used for Anti-Submarine Warfare, amphibious assault, and search and rescue operations.

Penguin Mk 2 anti-ship missiles for the Sea Sprite helicopters.

Penguin Mk 3 anti-ship missiles for aircraft

AGM-84 Harpoon missiles for F/A-18, and AP-3C Orion aircraft

UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles for Collins class submarines

ANZAC class frigates with Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles

Clearance Diving Teams (CDT) for maritime clearance.

Canberra Class LHD in planning?
Capable of carrying between 18 to 24 helicopters, 4 LCM, and 1,046 soldiers. 2 Canberra Class LHD's are currently being built for Australia as of 2012. On track to be completed by 2014. To replace the Tobruk landing ship.

Army

30,235 regular active duty personnel

16,900 active reserve personnel

12,496 standby or inactive reserve personnel

Army Headquarters at Victoria Barracks in Sydney

Robertson Barracks near Darwin (Tiger attack helicopters with the 1st Aviation Regiment)

Holsworthy Camp outside of Sydney

Lavarack Barracks in Townsville, Queensland

Woodside Barracks near Adelaide, South Australia

Army Aviation Centre near Oakey, Queensland

Lane Pine Barracks in Singleton, New South Wales

Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane, Queensland. Headquarters of the Deployable Joint Force

M1A1SA tanks. Made up of parts from U.S. Army and Marine Corps M1A1 tanks. To replace the Leopard 1 tanks.(73)

ASLAV-25 (257)

M-113 armored personnel carrier (431)

Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV). Fits a machine gun or Remote Weapons Station (838)

Land Rovers

Unimog trucks

Leopard 1 tanks (retired?)

MAG-58 machine guns

SR-25 sniper rifles

SR-95 sniper rifles

HK417 marksman rifles

Uses the Austrian made Steyr AUG assault rifle. Called the F88 Austeyr in Australia.

M4 carbine

F89 Minimi machinegun

Browning Hi-Power pistols

Parker Hale Model 82 sniper rifles

Army Aviation

Tiger ARH attack helicopters with Hellfire anti-tank missiles and 70mm rockets. (22)

S-70 Blackhawk helicopters

OH-58 Kiowa Scout helicopters

CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters

Australian Special Air Service (SAS)

1^stCommando Regiment 1 CDO REGT

2^ndCommando Regiment 2 CDO REGT

Artillery

M777 towed 155mm howitzers (35)

M198 towed 155mm howitzers (36)

L118 towed 105mm light guns (112)

Copperhead 155mm Precision Guided munitions

M101 105mm?

M40 106mm?

Anti-aircraft

RBS-70 surface-to-air missiles

Rapier surface-to-air missiles?

Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicles

Skylark unmanned aerial vehicles

Intelligence

Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS)

Defense Intelligence Organization (DIO)

Defense Signals Directorate (DSD)

Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO)

Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG)

Pine Gap facility- Electronic eavesdropping facility used by Australian and U.S. intelligence agencies. Uses the Echelon system.

Alice Springs facility used by the U.S. and Australia for electronic eavesdropping.?

North West Cape intelligence gathering facility.

Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station

Geraldton facility at Kojarena, 20 miles east of Geraldton (250 miles north of Perth). Linked to the ECHELON system.

Australian soldiers fought in Vietnam War.

29 OCT 10- The Australian government admits to having Australian special forces train Afghan militiamen in Australia. The Afghans are supposedly being trained to fight against Taliban forces.

Aborigine people

The Aboriginal Australian people have a shorter life expectancy and suffer much higher rates of imprisonment, poverty, and disease than any other group of people in Australia.

2004- Sporadic rioting by aboriginal Australian people after the death of an aboriginal youth being chased by police.

Australian military pictures