The Republic of Fiji Military Forces is the military force of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of about 6,500 active soldiers and approximately 6,200 reservists, it is one of the smallest militaries in the world and the third largest in the South Pacific region. The Ground Force is organised into six infantry and one engineer battalions.
HMNZS Leander was a light cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. She was the lead ship of a class of light ships, the Leander-class light cruiser and was initially named HMS Leander.
The Pacific class is a class of 22 patrol boats built by Australia and donated to twelve South Pacific countries. They were constructed between 1985 and 1997 and are operated by militaries, coast guards or police forces of twelve island nations. These boats are supported by the Pacific Patrol Boat Program and used primarily for maritime surveillance and fisheries protection.
Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto is a Fijian soldier, politician and former Cabinet Minister. After serving as Commander of the Republic of Fiji Navy, he was appointed as a Minister in the military regime of dictator Frank Bainimarama. He was later appointed commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, before being elected to the Parliament of Fiji in December 2022.
Viliame Kikau is a Fijian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL), and Fiji at international level.
The Guardian-class patrol boats are a class of small patrol vessels designed and built in Australia and provided to small South Pacific Ocean countries as part of the Australian Government's Pacific Maritime Security Program.
Operation Kurukuru is an annual joint exercise of Pacific Islands Forum nations, intended to combat illegal fishing. The first exercise took place in 2005.
RFNS Kiro (203) was one of three Pacific Forum patrol boats operated by Fiji. She was the last of the three to be launched, in May 1995, and the first to be retired, when she ran aground and was deemed unsalvable, in 2016.
RFNS Kikau (202) is a Pacific-class patrol boat operated by Fiji. She was designed and built by Australia. Australia agreed to provide twenty-two patrol boats to twelve of its neighbours and fellow members of the Pacific Forum, after the recently concluded United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea extended maritime nations' exclusive economic zone to 200 kilometres (110 nmi). Australia provided two other patrol vessels to Fiji, Kula and Kiro. Australia also provided training and infrastructure.
HMPNGS Rabaul (01) was the first Pacific Forum patrol vessel to be commissioned, in May 1987. She is not the first vessel of the class to go out of service, because her sister ship from Fiji RFNS Kiro was wrecked in 2016. She arrived in Port Moresby, for disposal, on October 24, 2018. The vessel was named HMPNGS Tarangau.
VOEA Savea (P203) was a Pacific Forum patrol vessel operated by the Tongan Maritime Force from 1989 to April 2019.
The RFNS Volasiga is an oceanic survey vessel operated by the Republic of Fiji Navy. She was donated by the Republic of Korea in 2019. She has a crew of 15.
RFNS Kacau is a hydrographic survey vessel donated by China to the Republic of Fiji Naval Service in 2019. With the capacity for approximately 30 crewmembers she will be Fiji's largest vessel.
RFNS Savenaca (401) is a Guardian-class patrol boat, being built in Australia for Fiji's Navy. She will replace RFNS Kula, a Pacific Forum patrol vessel provided by Australia in 1994. She will be the seventh vessel of the class to be completed, and the second of two to be delivered to Fiji. She will be commissioned in March or April of 2020.
Humphrey Tawake is a senior officer in the Republic of Fiji Naval Service.
The Republic of Fiji Navy or Fijian Navy is the naval branch of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces. The Fijian Navy was established after Fiji ratified the recently created 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Convention established that maritime nations had an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 kilometres, which extended Fiji's waters twentyfold, from 50,000 square miles (130,000 km2) to over 1,000,000 square miles (2,600,000 km2), necessitating a more substantial naval force to enforce Fijian jurisdiction and protect economic activity in the Fijian EEZ.
VOEA Pangai (P202) was a Pacific Forum patrol vessel operated by Tonga.
The Pacific Maritime Security Program is a program initiated by Australia to aid the neighbouring Pacific Island nations, such as Timor-Leste, Fiji, Palau, Kiribati and Tonga. The program includes the maintenance of port facilities, training, and the transfer of 21 Guardian-class patrol boats. The program was initiated under the 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional Security.
Nafanua III (04) is a Guardian-class patrol boat entering service with the Samoan Police Force. She was given to Samoa by Australia as part of the Pacific Maritime Security Program, in which Australia donates patrol boats to neighbouring Pacific Island nations in order to improve regional maritime security. She is the 2nd boat given to Samoa under the program, as she was ordered by Australia on 2 November 2022 as a replacement for her sister ship Nafanua II, which was damaged beyond repair when she ran aground on 5 August 2021. Nafanua II had only two years earlier replaced the 31 year old Pacific-class patrol boat Nafanua as the small island nation's sole maritime security craft. Although she was ordered as the 22nd and ultimate boat of her class, she was delivered on 22 November 2023 as the 18th.
RFNS Puamau is a Guardian-class patrol boat donated to Fiji by Australia as part of the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project. The vessel entered service on 7 March 2024. The ship is used to patrol Fijian waters.
Fiji