Military Capability

Solomon Islands does maintain a military. Only three Pacific Island nations – Tonga, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji – currently maintain standing militaries.

The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) represents Solomon Islands’ domestic security sector. The current police force has approximately 1,500 officers, which has previously been deemed too few for a population of more than 700,000 people; the RSIPF has historically been under-resourced.

In August 2023, the then-Prime Minister Manasseh Damukana Sogavare said in a press conference “this country is 45 years old now and the population has grown very fast. Our law enforcement agencies and our capability to protect our law and order has not kept up with our growing population… We need to increase our police force; 1,500 [police] for 700,000 people is unheard of.”

The RSIPF has a large mandate, including fire services, and maritime operational patrols of the Exclusive Economic Zone and borders for fisheries, immigration, and national security purposes.

RSIPF Maritime operates two Guardian-class patrol boats gifted by Australia (RSIPV Taro and Gizo), and Solomon Islands is the regional leader when it comes to using the Guardian-class Patrol Boats, taking them to sea for more days than any other nation.

RSIPV Taro and Gizo were both armed at the request of the Solomon Islands Government in September 2023.

“Arming the RSIPF patrol boat increases capability to respond to maritime security threats and challenges including illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and transnational crime. The patrol boats conduct maritime surveillance and enforcement operations and other border operations, thus it is important that it is well equipped,” said RSIPF Commissioner Mostyn Mangau.

Firearms are not widespread in the RSIPF as a legacy of the ethnic tensions from 1997-2003. A staged, limited rearmament was initiated which included the Police Response Unit, Close Personal Protection Unit and Aviation Policing.

For further reading on Solomon Islands military capability, see the resources below: (a reminder, videos are available to view on your mobile devices or standalone laptops – not on the DPN)

Videos

1. AFP gives Solomon Islands police semi-automatic rifles (ABC Pacific, 6m 29s)

Articles

1. Solomon Islands Police Development Program 2017-2021 Design Document
2. Rethinking Solomon Islands security (DevPolicy Blog)

Websites

1. RSIPF webpage

Military Cooperation with Australia

Australia and Solomon Islands’ long history of security partnership can be traced back to World War II. It was during this period that the two countries first worked together as Scouts and Coastwatchers. They trusted each other and risked their lives together to report on the movements of enemy aircraft and vessels. Together they rescued 791 defence personnel, missionaries, and civilians. They created the bedrock for today’s security partnership.

Since 1982 Australia has had a Defence Cooperation Program with Solomon Islands and has significantly enhanced the RSIPF’s capability during this time.

Australia takes very seriously the trust that Solomon Islands has placed in us to partner with them on their security needs, which is why Australia ensures everything it gifts to the RSIPF has whole of life maintenance, sustainment, and ongoing training.

The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), or OPERATION HELPEM FREN, was majority-funded and led by Australia with contributions from 15 Pacific nations. It ran from 2003-2017 at the request of the Solomon Islands Government, and sought to lay the foundations for long-term stability, security, and prosperity.

There are many resources which explain and review the RAMSI mission; please see below.

Today, the Australian Federal Police, Australian Defence Force, and Australian Border Force all still work with the RSIPF, as does New Zealand and China.

In November 2021, Australian police and military personnel returned to Solomon Islands in large numbers when they led a security intervention after Honiara suffered widespread looting and rioting, and the Solomon Islands Government called for assistance. Named the Solomons International Assistance Force (SIAF), or OPERATION LILIA, it included personnel from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji, making it a regional response.

SIAF remained in Honiara to help the RSIPF with security support for the 2023 Pacific Games and the national and provincial general elections on 17 April 2024.

Australia Federal Police are currently deployed in Solomon Islands under:

• The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and AFP Policing Partnership Program (RAPPP)
  • Long-term postings where police bring their families and live in Honiara
• Solomons International Assistance Force
  • An unaccompanied operational deployment

In October 2023, the Australian Defence Force handed over a suite of new equipment, including the required training, maintenance, and sustainment, worth more than AUD13 million, to the RSIPF to enhance their security capabilities ahead of the Pacific Games. This fulfilled a request from the Solomon Islands Government to meet their needs, and ensured there were no gaps in any part of the Pacific Games security operation.

After OPERATION LILIA concludes, Australia will seek to continue meeting Solomon Islands’ security needs, at the invitation of the Solomon Islands Government, which may include assistance developing a:

• fire authority
• border protection authority
• military
• larger police force

During his visit in July 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Marles declared Australia would be “very keen” to help Solomon Islands set up its own defence force. In an interview with the ABC following his visit, Minister Marles said it was a “decision for Solomon Islands”, but if they went ahead with the venture Australia would be a “natural partner of choice”.

Conversely, Dr Meg Keen from the Lowy Institute said when being interviewed by the ABC: “it is not clear why a military is needed in Solomon Islands, and there are not enough resources for the current police force”.

For further information on Solomon Islands’ security future, see the resources below:

Videos

1. Interview with LT Patrick Omodei – Force Protection Platoon Commander, OP Lilia (The Cove, 20m13s)
2. Exercise Longreach & Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Reliant (Defence Australia, 3m4s)
3. 20th anniversary of the deployment of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (SBS News, 2m31s)

Podcast

1. What risks could a new defence force in the Solomon Islands pose? (ABC, 10m)
2. Pacific Change Makers: Peter Kenilorea on Solomon Islands security and political challenges (The Lowy Institute, 39m20s)

Articles

1. One year, three agreements: shaping thinking on regional security (DevPolicy Blog)
2. Defence Minister Richard Marles happy for Australia to support Solomon Islands defence force
3. Solomon Islands: Invest in people and police before military
4. Revisiting RAMSI’s ‘Success Story’
5. RAMSI chapter ends in Australia’s Pacific story (DevPolicy Blog)
6. Reflecting on the 20th anniversary of RAMSI in Solomon Islands (DevPolicy Blog)
7. About RAMSI
8. Long live RAMSI? Peace-building, anti-corruption and political will in Solomon Islands (DevPolicy Blog)
9. Our work in the Solomons
10. AFP and Solomon Islands police set future priorities
11. AFP boosts Royal Solomon Islands Police Force’s forensic capability
12. RSIPF Police Operation Centre Boosted
13. RSIPF Officers Better Equipped to Combat Transnational Crime
14. AFP standing side-by-side with Solomon Islands police for Pacific Games
15. RAMSI Enhances RSIPF’S Maritime Capability
16. Intelligence diplomacy an underrated tool of statecraft (ASPI)
17. Australia’s early intervention can help Solomon Islands but the roots of the conflict run deep (The Lowy Institute)
18. Solomon Islands: Invest in people and police before military (The Lowy Institute)
19. Policing and development in Solomon Islands (Asia & The Pacific Policy Society)

Discussion questions

1. Should Australia continue to meet all of Solomon Islands’ needs in the security sector? How would we balance the cost of such an endeavour with the ADF’s other commitments regionally and internationally?
2. If invited by the Solomon Islands Government to partner with the nation to develop a military, how would the ADF undertake such a task?
3. The RSIPF relies heavily on assistance from Australia in terms of training and equipment. Does Solomon Islands’ security agreement with China present a threat to this relationship? What should Australia do to reinforce cooperation in the security sector? What can the ADF do to assist in maintaining close ties with Solomon Islands?