Australian Navy makes Northern Territory the hub of its amphibious architecture.

ASPI’s The Strategist argues that Darwin is becoming the practical anchor of Australia’s amphibious posture, linking basing, industry, and community in the north. The analysis lands as the ADF fields Canberra-class LHDs and accelerates new Army landing craft programs, a mix that could lift readiness for Indo-Pacific operations if infrastructure and sustainment keep pace.

An ASPI commentary published on 29 October says Darwin is moving from staging point to centerpiece in Australia’s amphibious architecture, and it urges a tighter Defence–Northern Territory partnership to match basing with ship-to-shore reality. The piece arrives amid concrete signals on the ground, including a government-funded mid-term refresh at RAAF Base Darwin, and a raft of littoral investments that tie the Army’s forthcoming landing craft to the Navy’s 27,000-plus tonne Canberra-class LHDs. Together, those strands point to a northern posture that can host denser allied activity and shorter reset cycles between deployments.
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HMAS Canberra transiting offshore, serving as the flagship Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) at 27,500 tonnes, with a well deck for landing craft and command and control (C2) capability. (Picture source: Australian MoD)

At the capability level, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) now structures its assets around assault helicopter carriers, Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD), and a program of littoral maneuver vessels. The Royal Australian Navy’s two LHDs, at 27,500 tons, provide a command platform, aviation, and a well deck for operations from offshore. Their mass and logistics volumes place them at the core of a cycle of joint and allied exercises in the Indo-Pacific.

At the same time, the army is renewing its projection and land support connectors. Under Land 8710 Phase 1A, Birdon was selected for 18 Landing Craft Medium to be built by Austal, with initial deliveries planned from 2026. These vessels will replace the legacy LCM-8 and extend logistical reach from improvised anchorages.

The material backbone centers on connectors designed to sustain effort from the sea. The new Landing Craft Medium advertise an 80-ton payload and a range exceeding 2,000 nautical miles in sea state 4; they can move an M1A2 SEP v3, a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), or armored convoys to austere beaches. At the next echelon, the heavy component of Land 8710 Phase 2A relies on Damen’s 100-meter LST 100 design, offering roughly 500 tons of lift for tactical movements toward austere quays. The whole construct ties into the Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD), which provides command and control (C2), aviation, and theater logistics, with effectiveness nonetheless conditioned by the reliability of port interfaces and well-sized sea staging areas.

The ADF aligns the amphibious effort at sites where infrastructure sets the tempo. In Darwin, moorings, ramps, and floating pontoons mesh with works at RAAF Base Darwin that strengthen access, water networks, and fire safety to support the northern posture’s growth. This technical base prepares for denser military port calls, allied activity peaks, and shorter regeneration windows between deployments.

On the ground, recent training underlines a trade of interfaces. During Talisman Sabre 2025, Australia demonstrated progress in interoperability from the quays of Townsville and Queensland beaches, while revealing areas to improve on connector numbers and wear in transitioning fleets. The learning curve remains positive, yet a bottleneck persists in ship-to-shore means until new Landing Craft Medium and Heavy series reach full service.

Tactical and operational effects are clear. An LHD–LCM–LMV-H chain supports generation of a Recognised Maritime Picture/Common Operational Picture (RMP/COP) near the littoral while ensuring tonnage-class flows to temporary shore points. Under emissions control (EMCON), using secondary landing areas diversifies approach vectors and reduces predictability. At the scale of a light littoral-oriented brigade, the pairing of maritime mobility and land fires sustains durable presence, with logistics relays at anchorage, dispersed shore depots, and traffic control that deconflicts fuel, munitions, and medical flows. The posture is conceived in coalition, aggregating New Zealand, Japanese, or U.S. detachments that share procedures, frequencies, and calibrated industrial offsets on critical parts.

A joint Defence–Northern Territory task force dedicated to amphibious infrastructure would create a short decision loop focused on Darwin Harbour and Middle Arm, synchronizing ramps, channels, quays, and environmental constraints with unit requirements. In parallel, an economic citizenship framework for regions where Defence exceeds a set share of gross state product would formalize targets for employment, training, and local industry participation, with annual reporting to anchor sovereignty as close as possible to sustainment chains. Finally, a public roadmap for the amphibious posture in Darwin, within classification limits, would reduce uncertainty for investors and residents. These directions echo The Strategist’s analysis and frame a more mature dialogue among forces, authorities, and companies.

The Darwin option raises Australia’s credibility in the Indo-Pacific in practical terms. It facilitates exercise cycles with Indonesia and allies, stabilizes humanitarian assistance and disaster relief corridors, and supports a short-range maritime denial strategy along the archipelagic seams. As LMV-M and LMV-H enter service, the capacity to project, sustain, and repair in the north gains resilience, observed closely by partners and competitors. A local economy better integrated with the posture, a mobilized defence industrial base (DIB), and proven interoperability procedures tighten the arc of confidence from Timor to the Coral Sea.