The Australian Defence Force is on a strong trajectory to become an integrated force greater than the sum of its parts, incorporating all five domains. Competition for people and resources across the domains will continue, but space and cyber are quickly catching up to the air, land and maritime domains.
At ASPI’s 2026 Defence Conference, Lieutenant General Susan Coyle, then chief of joint capabilities and now chief of army, described the significant growth of space and cyber capabilities in the ADF over the past few years and the value they brought to the integrated force. Considering and effectively integrating all five domains is still a journey for most militaries, and leaders such as Coyle have done much to move the ADF closer to the integration destination.
Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy describes the concept of national defence as a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation effort to meet Australia’s strategic challenges. The ADF is clearly a key component of this concept. An ADF with well-integrated and focussed capabilities in the maritime, land, air, space and cyber domains is best placed to contribute to national defence endeavours.
Coordinating and synchronising the effects that each domain offers is important. This doesn’t mean the five domains need to be resourced and staffed equally, but they should be considered equally when designing integrated effects. For example, a naval task group that is well defended in the cyber domain, moving under cover of ground-based missile and air support, and receiving space-based intelligence feeds will likely have military potential beyond the sum of each individual domain effect.
The growth of defence space and cyber capabilities during the tenures of Coyle and her predecessors has been impressive. The ADF now has dedicated personnel providing cyber capabilities to better protect and assure ADF platforms and to achieve cyber effects themselves. Similarly, the ADF now has a purpose-built space workforce and is spending on space domain awareness, in space communications and in positioning, navigation and timing alongside space control capabilities. Indeed, the people that make up the Joint Capabilities Group, which includes space and cyber, are the epitome of integration. Five thousand of its 10,000 employees are contractors, and the rest are a mix of defence civilians and uniformed personnel.
More evidence the ADF is well into the integration journey is that space and cyber capabilities are no longer widely viewed only as enablers to ships, soldiers and aircraft but as operational domains in their own right. Space and cyber capabilities underpin all five domains and can sometimes be the point of the spear enabled by the navy, army or air force. To highlight this, Coyle suggested at the conference that it was entirely possible that the next conflict could start in the space or cyber domain.
But the ADF certainly hasn’t reached the end of its integration journey. Coyle spoke of continuing competition for people and resources. She referred to this competition as ‘good friction’, suggesting the domains were competing on a more even playing field in terms of their contributions to the integrated force. She said that effective use of resources in the ADF remained an important ingredient in maintaining the ADF’s social licence.
On ADF recruiting and retention, Coyle said she would rather have the right people than just more people. In a competitive job market, all five domains need to appeal to young and not-so-young Australian recruits. The navy, army and air force remain fundamental parts of the integrated force and have long traditions and name recognition with potential recruits. But the ADF needs to appeal equally to potential recruits who can’t imagine a career in those traditional services but may be attracted to a career in space or cyber. This is all part of the integration journey.
Coyle was positive about the future and said we wouldn’t recognise the ADF in five years as we moved towards a fully integrated force. Space and cyber capabilities in the project pipeline will add enormously to the lethality and survivability of the whole force.
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