Australian Army Builds Littoral Manoeuvre Capability With New Group

The Australian Army established the Littoral Manoeuvre Group in March, creating a unit focused on moving, deploying and supporting land forces in coastal and island regions.

Key details

• Australia’s 2024 National Defence Strategy called for an Army optimized for littoral manoeuvre and long-range land and maritime strike.
• The group is planned to comprise three landing craft battalions, each operating four medium landing craft and two heavy landing craft.
• Australia awarded Austal Australia a contract for Land Craft Medium in December 2025 and a contract for Landing Craft Heavy in February.
• The planned Land Craft Medium has a cargo capacity of 80 tonnes.
• The planned Landing Craft Heavy is described as carrying either 200 soldiers and six M1 Abrams tanks, or nine Redback infantry vehicles.
• The group completed a large-scale amphibious exercise with Indonesia in the month before the report’s November 2026 publication.

Australia’s 2024 National Defence Strategy called for an Army focused on littoral manoeuvre and long-range land and maritime strike.

Why it matters

The strategy links the Army’s coastal and island operations with long-range land and maritime strike capabilities. The planned mix of medium and heavy landing craft would give the group vessels for different cargo and personnel loads.