Last updated 22 August 2025
Introduction
Yampi Sound Training Area consists of 566,000ha, 35km south of Koolan Island on Yampi Sound, Western Australia. It was acquired in by the Defence Department in 1978. Defence reports state that access difficulties and requirements for environmental rehabilitation have led to minimal use for its intended purposes. In 2005, the Australian government announced its intention to develop the site as part of the networked North Australian Range.
In July 2022, more than 2200 personnel from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and US Armed Forces recently conducted Exercise Koolendong 2022 ‘mid-intensity warfighting exercise’ over Yampi Sound and nearby RAAF Base Curtin that ‘replicates elements of a combined joint littoral combat operation supported by capabilities from the US Army and US Air Force.’
Two U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers, assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing, fly a Bomber Task Force mission July 18, fly alongside a Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft over Royal Australia Air Force Base Curtin, Australia, during Exercise Koolendong 2022. Photo credit: Tech. Sgt. Dylan Nuckolls. Source: Exercise Koolendong, Defence Department, 18 July 2022.
The North West Defence Alliance made up of local councils including Derby have been promoting the need for expanded defence commitment to the region, noting that.
‘In 2005 the then Federal Defence Minister, Senator Robert Hill, said there was a global shortage of suitable training areas for mechanised units and that Yampi Sound was seen as providing a third option across the north of Australia to compliment Bradshaw in the Northern Territory and Shoalwater Bay in Queensland. …
‘The Port of Derby is tidal and services the aquaculture industry and islands. Upgrade proposals have been put forward for this facility, including a deep water (lock system) or, alternatively, a tidally filled basin with land backed wharf-side facilities which could service up to 3million tonnes per annum. The port is at the mouth of Yampi Sound and is in close proximity to the Curtin Airbase and Yampi Training Area.
‘In 2019-2020 the Shire of Derby West Kimberley region accounted for 42 percent of the value of resource production in the Kimberley with an estimated value of $320m.’
Government sources
Australia
Yampi Sound Training Area consists of ca 5,600 km2, 130 km northwest of Derby by road. Formerly comprising Kimbolton and Oobagooma Stations, it was acquired by Defence in 1978 for use as a training area, for which it has received little use largely owing to the fact that it is difficult to access and is unsuitable for mechanised operations. Its poor fit with military exercise needs apparently led to the purchase of Bradshaw Field Training Area (29). This limited use, combined with an almost total lack of Defence infrastructure and the removal of introduced animals, has helped to make Yampi Sound Training Area a place of extremely high natural heritage value. Situated at the confluence of three distinct bioregions, Yampi displays an unusual richness of faunal associations and vegetation communities, amongst them a number of threatened or endangered species and species confined to small refugial habitats(27).
Mudflats, mangroves and the sandstone ridge behind the Trent River mouth, Yampi Defence Area, Ausralian Heritage Database, photographer R.L.Barrett, March 2001.
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/heritage/photodb/imagesearch.pl?proc=detail;barcode_no=rt74733
2004 Australia-United States Ministerial Consultation, Key Outcomes From Ausmin 2004:
- Australia-US MOU on Ballistic Missile Defence
- Australia-US Joint Combined Training Centre
- Australia-US Joint Statement of Principles on Interoperability
Yampi Defence Area, Koolan Island, WA, Australian Heritage Database. Army Presence in the North, Department of Defence, Performance Audit, 1997-03-07 [MS Word]
United States
“Enhancing” the Australian-U.S. Defense Relationship: A Guide to U.S. Policy, Thomas-Durell Young, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, November 17, 1997.
As a result of the July 1996 Australian-U.S. Ministerial Meeting and the ADF’s shift to the north, new and old areas are being developed and/or considered for exercises by the ADF. However, just as there are a number of general limiting factors concerning exercises in Australia, so are there specific restrictions. One shared both by Bradshaw and Yampi Sound is that they are located within heavily used civil air corridors. Yampi is located approximately 130 kilometers by highway/minor sealed road northwest of Derby, Western Australia. Defense officials claim that the Department of Defence purchased this area in the mid-1970s without a survey, let alone a visit by ADF personal to ascertain if it were suitable for exercises. One-third of the area is suitable for dismounted maneuver. Yampi’s limitations are formidable. It is located within the cyclone belt. There is only one limited sealed road from the Gibb River Road from Derby, but that only gives access to Oobagooma in the southwest of the range. This access road is currently prone to wash-outs. There is no cross country driving ability. Defense infrastructure development is essentially nonexistent. From the 1970s until recently, the range has only been used by reserve Regional Surveillance Force Units and the Special Air Service Regiment. The 2nd Cavalry Regiment, based at Robertson Barracks, deployed to the range in 1994. Following this deployment, the Australian Army determined that the area was unsuitable for mechanized operations. Amphibious operations are difficult due to extreme tidal ranges and the lack of suitable hydrographic surveys. Tidal ranges are so severe as to require ships to stand seven miles off shore to conduct naval gun fire support. Due to the area’s unsuitability for ADF exercises, the Australian Army determined the requirement to purchase a new range which led the purchase of Bradshaw Station.
Analysis
Yampi Sound to become major military training ground, ABC News, 18 July 2005.
The Yampi Sound defence base, north of Derby in Western Australia’s Kimberley, is set to become a major training ground for Australian and allied armed forces. Federal Defence Minister Senator Robert Hill says there is a global shortage of suitable training areas for mechanised units. “We are developing, at the moment, Bradshaw in the Northern Territory, our principal base is Shoalwater Bay in Queensland and in the years ahead we want to further develop the Yampi Sound site,” Senator Hill said. “This will give us three options, across the north of Australia, not only for the training opportunities for our forces but also for our friends and allies.”
Project coordinator: Richard Tanter
Updated: 22 August 2025