Editing Australian Defence Force (section)

==Foreign defence relations==
{{See also|Foreign relations of Australia}}
[[File:RAF RAAF USAF C-17s 2007.jpg|thumb|alt=A group of people wearing overalls standing together in front of three grey aircraft are visible in the background.|Australian, British and United States C-17 Globemasters and aircrew in Britain during 2007]]
The Australian Defence Force cooperates with militaries around the world. Australia's formal military agreements include the [[ANZUS|ANZUS Alliance]] with the United States, the Closer Defence Program with New Zealand, the [[Five Power Defence Arrangements]] with [[Malaysia]], Singapore, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the [[ABCA Armies|ABCA Armies Standardisation Program]] with the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.{{sfn|Khosa|2010|p=97}}{{sfn|Blaxland|2014|p=12}} Australia has also established a partnership with NATO.<ref>{{cite web|title=Relations with Australia|url=https://www.nato.int/cps/ic/natohq/topics_48899.htm|publisher=NATO|access-date=7 January 2018|date=12 December 2017|archive-date=7 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107175150/https://www.nato.int/cps/ic/natohq/topics_48899.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> ADF activities under these agreements include participating in joint planning, intelligence sharing, personnel exchanges, equipment standardisation programs and joint exercises.{{sfn|Australian Government|2016|pp=117–120}} Australia is also a member of the [[UKUSA Agreement|UKUSA]] signals intelligence gathering agreement.{{sfn|Beaumont|2001|p=457}} Members of the ADF are posted to [[List of diplomatic missions of Australia|Australian diplomatic missions]] around the world as [[Military attaché|defence attachés]]; in 2016 the role of these officers was expanded to include promoting export sales for the Australian defence industry.<ref>{{cite web|title=Expanding the role of Australia's Defence Attaches to support Defence exports|url=https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/christopher-pyne/media-releases/expanding-role-australias-defence-attaches-support-defence|website=Media release|publisher=The Hon Christopher Pyne MP|access-date=16 March 2018|date=14 December 2016|archive-date=16 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316152723/https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/christopher-pyne/media-releases/expanding-role-australias-defence-attaches-support-defence|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''2016 Defence White Paper'' stated that the Government will seek to further expand the ADF's international engagement.{{sfn|Australian Government|2016|pp=118–120}}

Singapore and the United States maintain military units in Australia. Two [[Republic of Singapore Air Force]] pilot training squadrons with a total of 230 personnel are based in Australia.{{sfn|International Institute for Strategic Studies|2023|p=232}} The [[Singapore Armed Forces]] also uses the [[Shoalwater Bay|Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area]] in Queensland for large-scale exercises; under the terms of a bilateral agreement, these run for up to 18 weeks each year and involve as many as 14,000 Singaporean personnel.<ref>{{cite web|title=Overview|url=http://www.defence.gov.au/Initiatives/ASMTI/Overview.asp|website=Australia-Singapore Military Training Initiative|publisher=Department of Defence|access-date=31 December 2017|archive-date=1 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101082351/http://www.defence.gov.au/Initiatives/ASMTI/Overview.asp|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Philippines Soldiers and Australian Special Forces Soldier, clear a room during close quarters battle training in support of Balikatan 2017 at Fort Magsay in Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, May 12, 2017.jpg | thumb|left|alt=Colour photo of two soldiers armed with rifles inside a building|An Australian commando (at left) training with a Filipino soldier in 2017]]

The United States maintains intelligence and communications facilities in Australia which are staffed by 1,700 personnel. The intelligence facilities comprise the [[Pine Gap]] satellite tracking station near [[Alice Springs]] and Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt near [[Exmouth, Western Australia|Exmouth]], Western Australia.{{sfn|International Institute for Strategic Studies|2023|p=232}} Pine Gap is jointly operated by Australian and United States personnel and Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt has been an exclusively Australian-operated facility since 1999.{{sfn|Ball|Robinson|Tranter|2016|pp=53–54}}<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tranter|first1=Richard|title=Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt (North West Cape)|url=https://nautilus.org/publications/books/australian-forces-abroad/defence-facilities/naval-communication-station-harold-e-holt-north-west-cape/|website=Australian Defence Facilities|publisher=Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability|date=8 March 2011|access-date=31 December 2017|archive-date=31 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231155416/https://nautilus.org/publications/books/australian-forces-abroad/defence-facilities/naval-communication-station-harold-e-holt-north-west-cape/|url-status=live}}</ref> In early 2007 the Australian Government approved the construction of a new US communications installation at the Defence Signals Directorate [[Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station]] facility near [[Geraldton, Western Australia|Geraldton]], Western Australia, to provide a ground station for the US-led [[Wideband Global SATCOM|Wideband Global System]] which Australia is partly funding.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tranter|first1=Richard|title=Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station, Kojarena|url=https://nautilus.org/publications/books/australian-forces-abroad/defence-facilities/australian-defence-satellite-communications-station-kojarena/|website=Australian Defence Facilities|publisher=Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability|date=6 October 2014|access-date=31 December 2017|archive-date=31 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231155422/https://nautilus.org/publications/books/australian-forces-abroad/defence-facilities/australian-defence-satellite-communications-station-kojarena/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Stewart|first1=Cameron|title=WA spy station to target terror|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/wa-spy-station-to-target-terror/news-story/f3d2a722366a8def79b58e251f485293|access-date=31 December 2017|work=The Australian|date=8 July 2014}}</ref> The [[United States Military]] also frequently uses Australian exercise areas and these facilities have been upgraded to support joint Australian-United States training.<ref>{{cite news |first=Craig |last=Skehan |author2=Wilkinson, Marian |author3=Murdoch, Lindsay |title=New bases for US forces in far north Australia |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/08/1089000295713.html?from=storylhs |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=9 July 2004 |access-date=7 April 2007 |archive-date=13 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013072629/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/08/1089000295713.html?from=storylhs |url-status=live }}</ref>  In November 2011, the Australian and American Governments announced plans to base on rotational basis a [[United States Marine Corps]] [[Marine Air-Ground Task Force]] in the Northern Territory for training and exercise purposes and  increase rotations of [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) aircraft through northern Australia.<ref>{{cite press release |author1=Prime Minister |title=Australia-United States Force Posture Initiatives |url=http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/australia-united-states-force-posture-initiatives |website=Prime Minister |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122083953/http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/australia-united-states-force-posture-initiatives |archive-date=22 November 2011 |date=16 November 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Nicholson|first=Brendan|title=Elite northern unit gives US access in a crisis|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/obama-in-australia/elite-northern-unit-gives-us-access-in-a-crisis/story-fnb0o39u-1226197274548|access-date=20 November 2011|newspaper=The Australian|date=17 November 2011|archive-date=19 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119015951/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/obama-in-australia/elite-northern-unit-gives-us-access-in-a-crisis/story-fnb0o39u-1226197274548|url-status=live}}</ref> As part of this agreement, the [[Marine Rotational Force&nbsp;– Darwin]] has been deployed to Australia for six months each year since 2012. It is planned for this force to eventually comprise around 2,500 personnel with supporting aircraft and equipment.{{sfn|Joint Standing Committee on Treaties|2014|p=3}} The expanded rotations of USAF units to Australia began in early 2017.<ref>{{cite news|title=USAF F-22s arrive in Australia for joint training exercises with the RAAF|url=http://australianaviation.com.au/2017/02/usaf-f-22s-head-to-australia-for-joint-training-exercises-with-the-raaf/|access-date=31 December 2017|work=Australian Aviation|date=10 February 2017|archive-date=31 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231212100/http://australianaviation.com.au/2017/02/usaf-f-22s-head-to-australia-for-joint-training-exercises-with-the-raaf/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ADF provides assistance to militaries in Australia's region through the Defence Cooperation Program. Under this program the ADF provides assistance with training, infrastructure, equipment and logistics and participates in joint exercises with countries in South East Asia and Oceania. The Pacific Patrol Boat Program is the largest Defence Cooperation Program activity and supports 22 [[Pacific class patrol boat]]s operated by twelve South Pacific countries. Other important activities include supporting the development of the [[Timor Leste Defence Force]] and [[Papua New Guinea Defence Force]] and supplying watercraft to the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines]].{{sfn|Khosa|2010|p=111}} Australia also directly contributes to the defence of Pacific countries by periodically deploying warships and aircraft to patrol their territorial waters; this includes an annual deployment of RAAF AP-3 Orions to the region as part of a multi-national maritime surveillance operation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Orion casts its net in fisheries op|url=http://australianaviation.com.au/2011/11/orion-casts-its-net-in-fisheries-op/|access-date=5 December 2011|newspaper=Australian Aviation|date=24 November 2011|archive-date=8 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308211513/http://australianaviation.com.au/2011/11/orion-casts-its-net-in-fisheries-op/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Operation Kurukuru catches illegal ships|url=http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/9020--operation-kurukuru-catches-illegal-ships|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223105737/http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/9020--operation-kurukuru-catches-illegal-ships|access-date=5 December 2011|newspaper=Solomon Star|date=16 November 2011|archive-date=23 February 2014}}</ref> Under an informal agreement Australia is responsible for the defence of [[Nauru]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Nauru|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/nauru/|website=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=7 January 2018|archive-date=13 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213085812/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/nr.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since the signing of the Japan-Australia Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between Japan and Australia, and the [[Reciprocal Access Agreement]] between Japan and Australia, the Australian Defence Force has been working closely with the [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]] on various joint operations, training exercises, and strategic initiatives. These agreements have significantly enhanced bilateral defence cooperation, improving interoperability, mutual support, and coordination in regional security matters.<ref>{{Cite web|title=日豪防衛協力・交流）|url=http://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/exchange/nikoku/pacific/australia/index.html |publisher=防衛省・自衛隊|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121181812/http://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/exchange/nikoku/pacific/australia/index.html |accessdate=2015-10-21|archive-date=21 January 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=日豪ＡＣＳＡ（日・豪物品役務相互提供協定）|url= http://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/exchange/nikoku/pacific/australia/acsa.html |publisher=防衛省・自衛隊|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130127113417/http://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/exchange/nikoku/pacific/australia/acsa.html |accessdate=2015-10-21|archive-date= 27 January 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=日豪首脳「円滑化協定」に署名 安全保障や防衛面での協力拡大 |publisher=NHK NEWS WEB |date=2022-01-06 |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20220106/k10013418221000.html |accessdate=2022-01-07|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106092007/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20220106/k10013418221000.html |archivedate=2022-01-06}}</ref>