Papua New Guinea Defence Force

The PNGDF originated from the Australian Army land forces of the Territory of Papua New Guinea before independence, coming into being in January 1973 and having its antecedents in the Pacific Islands Regiment. At independence it numbered 3,750 all ranks, while another 465 Australian personnel augmented the force to assist in training and technical support. In the mid-1990s, the PNG economy was in crisis with financial support provided by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the proviso of economic reform with the first phase in 1996 to include defence. Successive attempts to reduce the size of the PNGDF in response to the country's economic problems provoked fierce resistance. In 2000, the World Bank and the IMF provided loans with economic reform conditions and a Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (CEPG) report recommended to government that the PNGDF strength be reduced by more than half. In March 2001, soldiers mutinied after learning the government had approved the CEPG report. The government capitulated after 10 days to the mutineers' demands, agreeing not to cut the army's strength. However, in 2002 it was announced that the PNGDF would be reduced from 4,000 to around 2,100 personnel. In early 2004 the government reaffirmed its commitment to implement cuts within the armed forces, with a definitive restructuring expected to take place. Chief of Staff Captain Aloysius Tom Ur told troops in January 2004 that the 2004 strength of 3,000 would be reduced by one-third, and that during 2004, the force's personnel branch would merge with the support branch into a new organisation. Ultimately the reduction-in-size target was reached in 2009. PNGDF capability is considered modest, with the army facing significant problems including a chronic budget crisis, a lack of experience in conventional operations, limited ability to be deployed independently overseas as well as internal tensions. The air force and navy also suffer major equipment and funding shortfalls—to the point of sometimes almost being grounded—and are both too small and poorly equipped to take part in operations overseas. Indeed, the entire PNGDF is badly in need of new equipment. On 26 January 2012, military personnel under the command of the retired officer Colonel Yaura Sasa purported to arrest the commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, Brigadier General Francis Agwi. It was reported that former Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare had ordered the operation in relation to his attempts to regain the leadership of the country, and had offered to appoint Sasa the commander of the PNGDF. In 2013, the Defence White Paper 2013 was released which called for the size of the PNGDF to be increased from 2,600 personnel to 5,000 personnel by 2017 back to the pre Reform Program level in 2002. Defence spending under the White Paper was to increase from 1.45% of GDP to 3% of GDP by 2017. The PNGDF was to be modernised under the White Paper with the Land Force to be reequipped with new weapons and equipment and vehicles, the Maritime Element was to acquire new vessels and the Air Element was to restore its fix wing fleet to flying status and acquire new aircraft. In 2017, the Post-Courier reported that the White Paper objectives to modernise and reequip the PNGDF had not been achieved as defence spending had remained the same due to economic challenges. ==Land Element==

The Land Element is the PNGDFs army land force, being primarily a light infantry force capable of conducting low-tempo operations only; it is the senior of the three services. The army has its origins in the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment, which was formed in 1951 as a component of the Australian Army. Since independence, the army has become an indigenous organisation with its own traditions and culture. Nonetheless, the force has adopted foreign ideas on the roles and needs of an armed force, leading to proposals for armour, artillery and attack helicopters. However, the army faces severe budgetary problems and has therefore had virtually no money for operations, training, and maintenance or capital equipment upgrades. In this context, proposals to develop the army into a well equipped, mobile conventional land force, are unlikely in the near to medium term. Current organisation The Land Element is directly commanded by the Commander PNGDF, Brigadier General Gilbert Toropo, and has been significantly reduced in size due to restructuring (from 3,500 to 1,800 as of late 2007) and currently comprises the following: A ceremonial guard was established in 2015. The army's main bases include Port Moresby, Wewak and Lae, while company strength outstations are located at Kiunga and Vanimo. Communications centres are found at all of these locations and also on Manus island. Papua New Guinea has large areas of uninhabited jungle suitable for training. A training depot is maintained at Goldie River near Port Moresby and at Lae. In 1996, the Special Forces Unit (SFU) was formed which was later renamed the LRRU. The LRRU has trained with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) and the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) in Papua New Guinea in its long-range reconnaissance role for many years. In 2014, the LRRU commenced developing an urban counterterrorism and hostage rescue capability for the APEC Summit held in 2018, it received new equipment in preparation for this. The LRRU then provided a response capability for the Pacific Games in July 2015, with training provided by Australian Army Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) units and the NZSAS. The Warrior Wing established in the 1990s by United States Army Special Forces (Green Berets) consists of experienced LRRU soldiers who provide reconnaissance training and coordinate exercises with foreign units. Equipment The army is only lightly equipped—possessing no artillery, heavy weapons, anti-armour or anti-aircraft weapons. It is chronically short of equipment, maintaining just a few mortars, small arms and limited communications equipment. Because mobility is severely impaired due to PNG's mountainous geography, heavy rain forest, and the nation's underdeveloped transport infrastructure, artillery is not used by the New Guinea Defence Force. In 2017–2018, China donated armoured vehicles, troop carriers, buses, mobile kitchen vans and ambulances. Ten armoured vehicles were donated including four Norinco WZ-551 wheeled infantry fighting vehicles. In May 2020, Australia donated 28 DJI Phantom drones to patrol its border with Indonesia. Small arms In 2006, the PNGDF headquarters issued a directive to standardise weapons, with the number of small arms types to be reduced from 58 to 11, subsequently 3,418 weapons were disposed of. In February 2026, the Deputy Secretary of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group said that the Australian Combat Assault Rifle (ACAR) manufactured by Lithgow Arms had been chosen as the rifle that Australia will provide to the PNGDF. Vehicles ==Air Element==

The Air Element of the PNGDF, operating a small number of light aircraft and rotary wing assets in support of army operations. Like the PNGDF in general the air element suffers from chronic equipment shortages and underfunding, but probably even more so than the other two branch elements. The role of the air force is to support army operations with transport, air re-supply and medical evacuation capabilities. In future it may also be used to bolster border security and conduct maritime surveillance missions. It consists of the Air Transport Wing and has only one squadron—the Air Transport Squadron—with a strength of about 100 personnel, being based at Jackson Airport in Port Moresby. In recent years it has suffered from significant serviceability issues. Indeed, it only became airborne again in 2005 for the first time in five years, as funding shortages resulted in the small transport aircraft fleet being grounded for an extended period. By January 2006, one CN-235, one Arava and one UH-1H Iroquois helicopter had been made operational, with single examples of each of those three types also being returned to service by 2007. In February 2016, a contract was signed with New Zealand company Pacific Aerospace for four PAC P-750 XSTOL aircraft for search and rescue and surveillance and two PAC CT/4 Airtrainer aircraft. One PAC P-750 was delivered in 2018 and in 2021, with the assistance of the Royal Australian Air Force, its airworthiness was restored. In 2023, Australia donated two new PAC P-750s to the Air Element. In September 2025, one of the two grounded CASA CN-235s had its engines restarted after eight years, as part of the CASA Recovery Program. After the completion of phase one, which was 85-90% complete, the aircraft will be flown to Indonesia as part of phase two for a complete overhaul. After the completion of phase two, the PNGDF plans to have Indonesian companies repair the other grounded CN-235 aircraft. Current inventory at RAAF Fairbairn in Australia Retired aircraft Previous aircraft operated by Papua New Guinea consisted of the Douglas C-47, GAF Nomad, IAI-201 Arava, and the Bell UH-1 Huey helicopter. The UH-1H Iroquois helicopters and IAI Arava fixed-wing aircraft were to be retired in 2016. ==Maritime Element==

The Maritime element is the naval branch of the PNGDF, being mainly a light patrol force and is responsible for defending local waters only. It too suffers from chronic equipment shortages and underfunding. The navy has three primary roles: support for military operations, EEZ protection, and heavy logistic support for the army and civil society. and consists of approximately 200 personnel and is based in Port Moresby (HMPNGS Basilisk) and Manus Island (HMPNGS Tarangau) and currently comprises the following: • Four patrol boats (supplied by Australia) • One landing craft (transferred from Royal Australian Navy) • One Malaysian built landing craft (supplied by Australia) The first Guardian-class boat was commissioned in February 2019. In 2018, the first Pacific-class boat was decommissioned with the remaining three decommissioned in 2021. In June 2022, PNG commissioned HMPNGS Cape Gloucester, a Malaysian-built landing craft donated to PNG by Australia. Cape Gloucester replaced two Balikpapan-class landing craft: decommissioned in 2020 and decommissioned in 2021. Australia is funding a A$175 million upgrade to the Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island with construction commencing in mid-2020. Vessels ==Ranks==