A Royal Australian Navy Hobart-class guided-missile destroyer fires a Harpoon surface-to-surface missile during Exercise ‘Pacific Vanguard' 2022. The class will be equipped with the Naval Strike Missile in the future. (Commonwealth of Australia)

The Australian government has released two more policy documents that outline its defence development intentions over the next few years. The two documents – National Defence Strategy (NDS) 2024 and Integrated Investment Program (IIP) 2024 – were unveiled by Australia's Minister of Defence Richard Marles on 17 April.

The new policies follow Australia's Defence Strategic Review (DSR) – issued in April 2023 – and its evaluation of surface combatant capabilities, which was released earlier in 2024.

As outlined in the IIP 2024, the Australian government is projected to spend AUD765 billion (USD496 billion) in the decade between 2024 and 2034 on defence programmes. This amount includes an additional AUD56 billion above the previous trajectory that was forecast for this period.

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said the country needs more blue-collar workers to meet navy shipbuilding needs at yards like Newport News Shipbuilding, shown here. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

To address the shortage of workers needed to build the number of ships needed to meet US Navy (USN) fleet plans, the country should seek to bring in more legal immigrants from foreign shores, according to US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.

While acknowledging the impact of Covid-related issues on USN shipbuilding schedules on 23 April during an event at the Stimson Center, Del Toro said, “The bigger problem is the lack of blue-collar workers.”

Del Toro called on US lawmakers to “increase the amount of legal immigration” and work visas for potential shipbuilding work to come into country, despite the political divisions preventing such bipartisanship.

“We need to open up the spigot on legal immigration and allow blue-collar works to come here,” he said.

He underscored the need for retraining the new workforce for shipyard trades needed to build USN ships.

Cherkasy, one of the Ukrainian Navy's two newly acquired ex-Royal Navy Sandown-class MCMVs, is pictured entering Portsmouth Harbour on 11 April ahead of a series of multinational naval exercises. (Crown copyright)

The Ukrainian Navy's two newly acquired ex-Royal Navy (RN) Sandown-class mine-countermeasures vessels (MCMVs) have been temporarily homeported at Portsmouth Naval Base, the RN has confirmed.

The two minehunters, Chernihiv (ex-HMS Grimsby ) and Cherkasy (ex-HMS Shoreham ), arrived at Portsmouth Naval Base on 11 April ahead of a series of multinational exercises.

Previously based in Scotland, the ships will operate from Portsmouth “for the foreseeable future”, the RN said. While stationed in Portsmouth, they will engage in exercises with the RN and the US Navy (USN) in UK waters, helping the Ukrainian Navy to adapt to NATO operations.

Chernihiv and Cherkasy, which were recommissioned into Ukrainian Navy service in July 2023, were donated by the UK to Ukraine as part of the Ukraine Naval Capabilities Enhancement Programme (UNCEP). Ahead of their transfer from the RN, they were overhauled by Babcock at its facilities in Rosyth, Scotland.