Defence’s most comprehensive, and expensive, package of land force modernisation is underway, at a cost of $50–70 billion. Nine complementary programs cover every area of land warfare, from personal equipment for the soldiers through to unmanned aerial vehicles, amphibious craft, special forces helicopters, digital networks, surface-to-air missiles and long-range battlefield rocket systems. Moreover, those programs are in addition to Navy and Air Force projects, such as sea and air lift, that directly support the land force.

Among these programmatic riches, the jewel in the crown is Project Land 400, through which Defence intends to replace the Army’s fleets of armoured cavalry vehicles (ASLAVs) and M113 armoured personnel carriers (APCs). According to Defence, the project will deliver the Army’s next generation of armoured fighting vehicles, with the firepower, protection and mobility to defeat increasingly lethal and adaptive adversaries well into the future.