Australia’s long-awaited defence strategic update and force structure plan have been released by the prime minister and defence minister. After minimal recital of the continued rightness of the 2016 defence white paper judgements, the government …
Sea state The UK National Audit Office has revealed that the Royal Navy may not be able to form carrier groups with its two new aircraft carriers. After spending nearly $8 billion on the two …
As the Australian government’s finances come under increasing pressure from the effects of Covid-19, so too might the scope for some forms of Defence investment in new capital equipment. That could pose difficult challenges for …
The recent developments in Ladakh on the disputed border between India and China were shocking and tragic. The clash in Galwan Valley last week has opened up a deep fissure in India–China ties, spawning tensions …
Last Friday’s announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that Australia was ‘being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor’ puzzled some: why not name China, why not be specific about the attacks? It’s the eternal …
On 19 June, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in concert with Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, announced: ‘Australian organisations are currently being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor.’ This was occurring ‘across a range of sectors, …
I noted in the previous post in this series that planned increases to the Defence Department budget are concentrated in its capital investment program, which rises to nearly 40% of the total budget. Since the …
Without informing its US ally, Japan this week abruptly put on hold the planned deployment of two Aegis Ashore systems that were intended to bolster its defences against North Korean and Chinese missiles. Some commentators …
The US undersea deterrent is the most survivable leg of America’s nuclear triad of ground-, air- and sea-based nuclear capabilities. The sea-based leg, however, is also the most brittle of the three. If an alert …
Finding a balance between encouraging Australia’s domestic manufacturing to ensure supply-chain security for critical sectors and not violating free-trade agreements by introducing tariffs and subsidies for ‘strategic industries’ will be a tough task for the …
The looming strategic update to Australia’s 2016 defence white paper is an opportunity for creativity and practicality. It’s too easy to imagine the update describing what’s happened in the last four years and moving on …
Australia can acquire extra maritime capability quickly and affordably while promoting local industry and the government’s continuous naval shipbuilding plan. My new ASPI report, From concentrated vulnerability to distributed lethality—or how to get more maritime …