Australian Army accomplishes three new operational milestones during Exercise Pozieres Run 2026.

On September 4, 2026, the Australian Army confirmed that Exercise Pozieres Run 2026 achieved three operational milestones: local drone manufacturing inside a deployable field facility, M142 HIMARS air insertion via C-130 Hercules, and the first field deployment of the AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzer. Conducted across Queensland with 8,000 personnel, the exercise validated 1st Division's operational shift toward persistent, highly mobile reconnaissance-strike networks. The doctrinal changes directly address modern high-threat battlefield requirements by decentralizing logistics, increasing long-range fires capability, and enhancing tactical unit survivability.

Exercise Pozieres Run 2026 integrated 300 Sovereign UAS Challenge drones, 48-tonne AS9 Huntsman 155 mm howitzers, and 10th Fires Brigade HIMARS live-fire operations across Shoalwater Bay and Townsville. The exercise tested rapid battlefield regeneration, 500+ km missile strike reach via PrSM, and multi-domain deployment mechanisms including C-130 airlifts and littoral landing craft.

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During Exercise Pozieres Run 2026, the Australian Army made small drones directly in a field facility, transported a HIMARS missile launcher by C-130 into the field, and deployed the new AS9 Huntsman howitzer in a live exercise for the first time. (Picture source: Australian MoD)

On September 4, 2026, the Australian Army confirmed that Exercise Pozieres Run 2026 had produced three operational firsts: small drones manufactured in a deployable field facility and issued directly to units, an M142 HIMARS launcher inserted into the area of operations by a C-130 Hercules, and the AS9 Huntsman being employed in a field exercise. Pozieres Run ran from July 30 to August 23 at Shoalwater Bay and Townsville Field Training Areas in Queensland, with about 8,000 personnel divided into opposing forces and the 10th Fires Brigade conducting HIMARS live fire at Townsville. Australia is currently moving toward 42 HIMARS launchers, 30 AS9 155 mm self-propelled howitzers and 15 AS10 resupply vehicles, before the wider command, recovery, maintenance and transport fleets are included. Pozieres Run simultaneously employed unmanned ground sensors, unmanned ground vehicles and a deployable trauma hospital with CT capability. At the same time, 3rd Brigade (Armoured) commander Brigadier Ben McLennan assessed that his brigade had changed how it fights by 60-70% in the preceding 12 months. The brigade is rewriting formation tactics, battle-group tactics and the Combat Team Handbook in 2026, making the exercise part of a doctrinal change covering reconnaissance, targeting, fires, mobility and sustainment.

The planned 42 HIMARS launcher force is being established under a roughly AU$2.3 billion long-range strike investment, with deliveries running from early 2025 through 2027 and the 10th Fires Brigade at Edinburgh Defence Precinct near Adelaide becoming the Army's long-range fires formation. Its ammunition structure also moves from GMLRS into PrSM, taking Army missile fires beyond 500 km, more than eight times the upper 60 km envelope available to the AS9 with suitable precision 155 mm ammunition and more than 16 times the roughly 30 km reach of conventional 155 mm HE. Later PrSM increments are intended to extend beyond 1,000 km, which would double the initial PrSM engagement depth. Australia also fired its first locally assembled GMLRS rocket in April 2026, adding a domestic missile assembly to launcher procurement. Pozieres Run tested the launcher's mobility: a C-130 carried a HIMARS directly into the area of operations, while May 2026 littoral trials had already moved a launcher, resupply vehicle, munition pods and trailers between HMAS Choules and Cowley Beach using LCM-8 and Mexeflote. The Australian Army now has three distinct HIMARS deployment mechanisms: road for tactical displacement, C-130 for movement between geographically separated land areas, and landing craft for ship-to-shore transfer.

Similarly, LAND 8116 Phase 1 changes both the organization and employment of 155 mm artillery in 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery. The program covers 30 AS9 Huntsman 155 mm self-propelled howitzers and 15 AS10 armoured ammunition resupply vehicles, with approved expenditure of AU$1.326 billion against an initial contract value near AU$1.017 billion. At 106 Battery in Townsville, the new organization is six AS9s with three AS10s, with the remaining batteries intended to adopt the same 6+3 structure by the end of 2027. Each battery therefore moves from four M777A2 towed guns to six self-propelled guns, a 50% increase in firing pieces, while the 4th Regiment ultimately fields 18 AS9s and nine AS10s across its three batteries. Each AS9 weighs around 48 tonnes, has a five-person crew, uses a 1,000-hp MTU MT 881 Ka500 diesel engine, and exceeds 60 km/h on road. Its 155 mm/52-calibre gun can fire three rounds in about 15 seconds and 6-8 rounds per minute during intensive firing, with ammunition providing roughly 30 km range for conventional HE, 40 km for extended-range or rocket-assisted projectiles, and up to 60 km for suitable precision ammunition. Pozieres Run moved the AS9 into collective employment, requiring crews to combine battery fires with tactical movement, AS10 resupply, maintenance, and recovery.

The small drone effort uses a different cost and replacement model. The Sovereign UAS Challenge required a drone below 2 kg, with a stabilized camera, at least 5 km range, and a unit cost below AU$5,000. Ten companies entered the April 2024 fly-off before AMSL Aero, Boresight and Grabba Technologies were selected, with each receiving AU$2.2 million to establish production capacity and manufacture 100 aircraft. The resulting 300 drones comprised ASTIIA, BS-350 and Mozzie systems, after which Defence acquired more than AU$1.5 million in additional Australian-manufactured drones. Pozieres Run moved this concept from domestic production to production inside the deployed force, with many drones assembled in a field manufacturing facility and distributed directly for reconnaissance, surveillance and simulated strike missions. The resulting logistics model is based on replacing inexpensive drones rather than recovering every loss: motors, batteries, flight controllers, datalinks, cameras, and airframe components can be converted into complete drones closer to the units consuming them.

The Australian Army is also separating UAS by mission and range. The roughly AU$100 million tactical small UAS effort includes Sypaq's CorvoX, with an 82 cm wingspan, 100 km/h maximum speed, roughly 50 minutes endurance and up to 5 km operating reach, using electro-optical and long-wave infrared sensors with NATO-compatible video streaming. Its Codan Sentry Mesh 6161 software-defined radio weighs 410 g, while AU$15 million has been allocated to establish Australian production with up to 18 personnel supporting production, encoding, packaging and certification. Quantum Systems' Vector AI occupies a deeper tier with a 2.8 m wingspan, VTOL configuration and demonstrated reach beyond 60 km, more than twelve times CorvoX's operating distance. During Exercise Southern Jackaroo 2026, the Vector identified targets at depth for subsequent drone and artillery attacks. At shorter ranges, 5/7RAR and 1st Armoured Regiment have tested FPV drones for reconnaissance, strike ambushes and potential anti-armour missions, while Alpha Company spent 2026 qualifying RAS personnel for redistribution into rifle companies in 2027. The intended progression is an Army RAS-ready battle group followed by a combat team employing FPV strike drones as an organic attack capability at Talisman Sabre 2027.

Project LAND 156 addresses the corresponding threat to Australia's own dispersed force. Roughly AU$1.3 billion is allocated over ten years to counter-UAS, with AU$38.7 million contracted across 20 vendors by August 2025, including 14 Australian companies, and at least 120 detection and defeat systems involved. The architecture combines sensors, electronic warfare, kinetic effectors, and command-and-control; a December 2025 activity at Cultana integrated jammers and sensors with kinetic systems, including the EOS Slinger. The program assumes repeated modification because the adaptation and counter-adaptation cycle for drones observed in Ukraine has been assessed at three to six months. Army experimentation is correspondingly divided between offensive RAS and FPV work in 1st Brigade and 5/7RAR and counter-RAS development in 7th Brigade. The artillery connection is direct: hostile UAS can target not only guns and launchers but ammunition transfer points, command vehicles, maintenance sites, communications equipment, and routes. A HIMARS missile exceeding 500 km in range or a Huntsman capable of rapid displacement still depends on support elements whose detection can interrupt subsequent fire missions without destroying the firing vehicle itself.

The three Pozieres Run firsts therefore add three different forms of elasticity to the Australian Army rather than three versions of the same capability. Field manufacturing allows the force to regenerate part of its reconnaissance and low-cost strike inventory closer to the consuming unit. The AS9 gives manoeuvre formations protected 155 mm fires that can relocate repeatedly without the towing and emplacement cycle of the M777A2, while the AS10 moves the ammunition supply onto a tracked, protected vehicle able to follow the guns. C-130 insertion gives the HIMARS discontinuous operational movement, allowing a launcher to bypass the ground between two operating areas instead of spending the entire relocation exposed to road constraints and observation, while LCM-8 and Mexeflote trials provide a comparable option across the littoral. The three firsts consequently affect different operational variables: drones alter replacement rate and sensor density, Huntsmans alters the persistence of close and medium-range artillery alongside manoeuvre forces, and C-130-carried HIMARS alters where 500+ km fires can be generated across a dispersed theatre.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.