Missile capacity boost in major defence overhaul

More land-based missiles, fewer new armoured vehicles and a greater emphasis on deterrence are expected to be among the key findings of a major review of the country's defence force.

A declassified version of the Defence Strategic Review will be released on Monday, with the report aiming to prepare Australia's defence forces for the strategic challenges of the next decade and beyond.

The review was commissioned by the federal government in August and was led by former defence minister Stephen Smith and former defence chief Angus Houston.

Excerpts from the review have called for the expansion or acceleration of programs for medium and heavy landing craft, long-range missiles and mobile land-based missiles used to strike maritime targets.

The review will also recommend cutting back a program to build new army vehicles.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the review was needed due to the growing levels of strategic uncertainty.

"You can see a greater emphasis on deterrence and a greater effort to contribute to collective security in the region and maintaining the regional balance of power," he told ABC Radio on Monday.

"We need to significantly reshape the Australian Defence Force and how we do defence policy more generally, to face that uncertainty."

Mr Conroy said the review would include recommendations for the number of infantry fighting vehicles to be reduced from 450 to 129, while land-based missiles would also be boosted in capability from a maximum range of 45km to more than 500km.

"This is about getting an Australian army that's shaped for our current strategic circumstances ... this is about reshaping the army, to modernise it, to be quite frank," he said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said the coalition would give the review serious consideration when it was released.

"This is an incredibly important document for our nation's future. We've got to make sure that we get the strategic direction right," he told Sky News.

"We'll wait for the whole report. We'll consider it in detail and then we will respond, because this is too important to play games with."

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, who previously served in the army, said other issues such as attracting personnel to the defence force needed to be addressed in the review.

"You can chuck in everything you want, but your retention rate is the worst it's ever been in history and people are not joining," she told Nine's Today program.

"We are in dire straits when it comes to national security in this country."

On Sunday, Defence Minister Richard Marles said it was clear that the defence budget would grow.

"And that, in many ways, is a function of the strategic landscape in which we exist," he said.

"In a rational world, defence spending is a function of strategic threat, strategic complexity - we have both of those, and we're rational people."