Each year, The Cove selects a theme to shape discussions of relevance to Army and Army members, and ensure our professional military education is relevant and topical.
In 2026, The Cove's PME theme is: Littoral Operations.
In an era of intensifying competition in the Indo-Pacific, the strategic focus of the Australian Defence Force and Australian Army has evolved. The National Defence Strategy 2024 (NDS) lays out Government's approach to address Australia’s strategic challenges, anchored in a Strategy of Denial. The NDS gave a number of priorities for the focused, integrated force, including "amphibious-capable combined arms land system". Importantly, Army is directed to optimise for littoral manoeuvre with enhanced long-range land and maritime strike capabilities as part of the integrated force.
Army responded to the imperative of the NDS with our now capstone document - Army's Contribution to the National Defence Strategy 2024 (ACNDS). The ACNDS provides the strategic direction and priorities to Army, establishing Army's adaptation priority is to optimise for littoral manoeuvre with a long-range land and maritime strike capability; further, it provides Army's first task as 'We are ready to fight wars in the littoral'.
It is for this reason that in 2026, The Cove’s PME theme is Littoral Operations — a topic that directly reflects the Army’s role in implementing the Australian Government’s National Defence Strategy and maximising Army’s contribution to the Integrated Force.
Littoral Operations
What do we mean by littoral operations? At its core, the littoral encompasses the dynamic spaces where the Land and Maritime domains intersect — environments where land domain forces can influence and be influenced by maritime elements, and vice versa. While littoral operations include traditional amphibious operations, they also extend beyond that. They include distributed manoeuvre across coastal and archipelagic terrain, integrated fires delivered from land into maritime domains, riverine operations, and the ability to operate effectively with joint and coalition partners in complex multi-domain settings.
Australia's immediate region, the Indo-Pacific, is characterised by vast littoral spaces, with critical sea lines of communication, and extensive island archipelagos. Being prepared to manoeuvre, sustain, and deliver effects in this environment strengthens deterrence and enhances our capability in our primary area of military interest, as well as interoperability with regional partners.
Looking to kickstart your PME on this topic? Start with the Australian Army Journal vol 19, number 2, including a wealth of resources on littoral operations.
What to Contribute
Interested in contributing to one or more of these themes? You can contribute content to the Cove in multiple ways. We would love to receive your written article, but if writing isn't your thing, you can also submit content in video or audio forms. See our Editorial Policy and Submission Guidelines for more detail.
So Contribute Today!
Written articles, audio articles, videos or podcasts - whichever you prefer, contribute to The Cove this year and help hone our intellectual edge.
We encourage contributions that interrogate all aspects of littoral operations, whether historical case studies, concept development, tactical insights, or implications for training and doctrine.
The littoral is fundamental to Army's future, so understanding how we will operate in this environment is essential to our intellectual edge. The Cove looks forward to unpacking this theme with you throughout 2026.
