A US Marine Corps general has confirmed more than 1000 troops will be based in Darwin next year but the Australian Defence Minister has said only that an announcement will be made within days.

Brigadier General Richard Simcock also said the Australian military would "look to the US for guidance" when the navy bought its first two amphibious assault ships, the Marine Corps Times reported. General Simcock, the Marine Corps Forces Pacific deputy commander, made the announcement of the 1100 marines coming to Darwin in a media event at the Pentagon this week.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the two countries had agreed to progress to a larger six-month rotation of about 1150 in 2014. "The details of this six-month rotation will be announced in the next few days," he said.

over three years after Obama announced an 'enduring presence' in Darwin, the numbers are over 1000 and we're still as uninformed and unprepared as when this started.