Visitors to the Australian War Memorial will be able to watch soldiers at work in real time, as part of a half-a-billion-dollar redevelopment of the Canberra institution.
The monument's director Brendan Nelson will on Thursday outline plans to significantly expand its exhibition and public space.
The ambitious project will cost $498 million and be completed in discrete stages over nine years.
The plans are expected to include a complete redesign of the memorial's lower ground floor and a new underground exhibition hall to display large items such as helicopters and jet fighters.
The redevelopment will include a live feed of current defence activities, an area for quiet reflection and a display of the nation's cenotaphs and memorial.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the initiative is about "the practical recognition and support our service men and women deserve".
The Australian War Memorial is to undergo a major upgrade. (AAP) Source: AAP
"We're going to make the Australian War Memorial's vision a reality so they can tell new stories in new ways," he said in a statement.
"As well as being able to display more of their collection, we want the Australian War Memorial to be able to proudly tell the stories from recent years in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Solomon Islands and East Timor."
Dr Nelson said the revamped memorial would more substantially tell the stories of current conflicts, operations, peacekeeping and humanitarian missions and those over the past 40 years.
The range and duration of contemporary conflicts is said to have stretched the memorial's current gallery space. However the expansion will increase visitor areas by more than 80 per cent.
