Bradley Perrett | What Solomons needs to understand about our army reorganisation

So it isn't likely to quickly notice and understand complex military-technical developments in its region.

This article may help.

For the Australian government has announced something that Solomon Islanders really need to pay attention to.

According to an army reorganisation plan published on Thursday, Australia's three combat brigades will become more differentiated, each getting its own specialty.

One will become the armoured brigade, following a recommendation in the Defence Strategic Review announced in April.

And the unit chosen for that role will be 3rd Brigade, the one based in Townsville.

It will be "designed for amphibious operations with the Royal Australian Navy in order to secure decisive terrain", says Defence Minister Richard Marles.

Armoured units are what an army uses when it wants to move forward, into enemy territory.

Making things even clearer, we may note that Townsville is already earmarked for hosting new amphibious assault shipping that will be most suitable for projecting ground forces across the Coral Sea.

The army's helicopters, which would be needed in any offensive operations, will be concentrated in Townsville, too.

Does it sound to you like Australia is preparing an ability to forcibly land on the territory of Solomon Islands if war breaks out and our little neighbour has made a disastrous decision to host Chinese forces? Because that's just what it looks like to me.

The Chinese forces that would worry us would be strike-missile units, which from Solomons territory could threaten defence and civilian facilities all along the Queensland coast and maybe a few hundred kilometres inland. Shipping within, say, 2000 kilometres of the islands could also be in danger.

We could try to suppress China's missile-launcher vehicles with air attacks, but one of the great advantages of such equipment is that it can scoot between hiding places under trees, especially if it is operating in heavily wooded territory - like that of Solomon Islands. So our only way to root out such a threat might be to send in the army.

If China had also placed a defensive ground force in Solomon Islands, units that we landed would have to overcome it.

So far no one has a better idea of how to do such a thing than using armour, despite the often poor performance of such equipment in the war in Ukraine.

We'd also need all the other paraphernalia of what's called combined arms: artillery, helicopters and well-equipped infantry.

Which brings us back to 3rd Brigade in Townsville as it builds up its strength over the next few years while new Apache attack helicopters arrive in the north Queensland city and freshly built amphibious landing ships moor in the harbour.

Solomons has not agreed to host Chinese forces, but Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has been getting so close to Beijing that we must be on guard for the possibility.

Before Solomons takes any such decision, its people and their leaders should consider how deadly serious the business would be seen in Canberra.

Preparing our army accordingly isn't a threat; it's an unavoidable, unpleasant precaution.

MORE AGE OF THE DRAGON:

Solomon Islands is, no doubt, only the most probable of several potential destinations for 3rd Brigade that are on the minds of our officials and military officers. China is attempting to gain influence all over the Pacific.

We must also consider that if a weak country hosts a large but apparently innocent Chinese civilian operation - say, a fisheries support base - Beijing could surreptitiously send in a detachment of soldiers who could suddenly take over an airport to receive airlifters bringing in heavier forces.

The idea of Australia sending in its army is harder than it sounds.

Landing beaches can be defended and their seaward approaches can be mined.

If strike missiles are on an island, an obvious target for them would be any amphibious assault shipping that's coming after them. Submarines can also attack a landing force at sea.

Of the army's other two combat brigades, the one at Darwin, 1st Brigade, will get light equipment, meaning it will be easily transported to territory of our neighbours on invitation, perhaps by air. Brisbane's 7th Brigade will be somewhere between the 1st and 3rd in its equipment level and is also intended to be deployable overseas.

Then there will be a new unit, 10th Brigade, for operating our forthcoming HIMARS missile-launching trucks and the weapons they'll carry.

This unit will, in effect, be the Strike Brigade that this column called for a year ago - but it won't be called that, not least because at first it will have no strike capacity.

Its initial missiles will be fairly short-range weapons for ground battles, not for reaching targets such as airfields or ports at least 1000 kilometres away.

Such longer-range weapons - strike missiles - are coming, however.

Our 10th Brigade is probably intended to move with 1st Brigade to emplace them on islands to our north, though it's not clear whose islands are being considered.

And 10th Brigade will operate our ground-to-air missile systems, called NASAMS.

Those are weapons for local defence, not for covering a large area, and they can't cope with ballistic missiles, which plummet on their targets very fast from high altitude. But suitable area-defence missiles are coming, too.

The review told the defence establishment to get a move on in acquiring them.

Because it will be much more technologically advanced than the combat units, 10th Brigade will be in Adelaide, home to much of our most sophisticated defence industries.