The amphibious transport ship HMAS Manoora, with about 600 troops and support staff on board, is the vanguard of an intervention force assigned with not only bringing peace to the Solomons but also restoring failed government institutions.

The total force of 2,000 troops and 300 police will reach the Solomons on Thursday, representing the largest military intervention in the South Pacific since World War II.

It includes personnel from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Papua New Guinea.

The Solomons has been wracked by civil unrest for the past four years, with government on the brink of collapse and large parts of the country under the control of warlords and rebels.

Defence Minister Robert Hill has warned that peacekeepers risked being ambushed and said they had been authorised to shoot to kill if necessary.

He said the force would operate under "robust" rules of engagement.

Despite the dangers, Hill said he hoped the military's involvement in the mission would be shortlived.

"When law and order is restored and the normal functions of government recommence, we'll be able to substantially reduce the military side of the operation and I think that should happen in a relatively short period of time," he told reporters.

Hill conceded however that restoring viable government was likely to be a longer-term project in what has been labelled the Pacific's first failed state.

To help achieve this, Australia has insisted on including about 100 bureaucrats in the force to help rebuild civil administration and run prisons and the finance sector.

HMAS Manoora commanding officer Martin Booker said his ship's initial task was to set up operations in preparation for the arrival of the main force on Thursday.

"Our primary role over there is going to be logistic support to the police forces and to the military forces there to support them on the ground," he said.

With Australian troops also deployed in Iraq and East Timor, military analysts were concerned the Soloman's mission would leave the country's defence forces overstretched,

"Logistics support is particularly an area that's being sort of under pressure not least when you actually have to support a range of operations in a number of different parts of the world," Australian Strategic Policy Institute director Aldo Borgu told ABC Radio.

The Australian government's national security committee will give official approval to the intervention force on Tuesday.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark responded to reports Monday that some of her colleagues were concerned the force could become "bogged down" in the Solomons by reiterating that she had been thoroughly briefed on the mission and was happy with her country's involvement.

"We have talked a great deal about the nature and extent of it," she said. "New Zealand has stressed it wants as low key an approach as possible and the way it is shaping up should be satisfactory," she said.

WAR.WIRE