While Australia and Canada are similar in many ways, their approaches to defence policy are quite different, not least when it comes to their defence budgets. While Australia’s GDP is about 18% smaller than that …
If you can fit your own nation’s interests into a submarine without it sinking, you’re doing well. But try to fit in the interests of a second and even a third nation and there’s danger …
Sea State The US Navy released its much-anticipated 2016 Force Structure Assessment (FSA) last week and the results are sure to please proponents of a large USN The FSA advocates a 355 ship navy, which …
Sea State One of the Su-33 Flanker-D aircraft onboard the Admiral Kuznetsov—Russia’s aircraft carrier in the Eastern Mediterranean—crashed last week. The accident was the second one in a month and occurred after one of the …
Australia’s next submarines will be the most sophisticated naval vessels under construction in the world and they will be built here in Australia with Australian workers using Australian expertise and Australian steel. The strong desire …
While it’s not the end of the world year just yet, most will be pleased to see it roll around. 2016 packed a punch, with some unnerving strategic discontinuities (take your pick but mainly) and …
There’s been talk lately about so-called plans for the US Navy battle force inventory to return to 350 vessels. President-elect Trump has pledged to begin the biggest naval build-up since the 1980s. The USN inventory …
The US government’s largest contracted military shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), recently opened an office in Canberra. It seems unlikely that HII would’ve done that without encouragement from the US government, via the US Navy. …
France is on the move. Since the release of its 2013 White Paper on Asia–Pacific Security, the country’s been pursuing its interests in the region with an ebullient energy. At the same time, Australia’s own …
Sea State South Korea launched its newest submarine—the Lee Beom-seok—at a ceremony last week. Named after a famous Korean resistance fighter, the Lee Beom-seok is the eighth of a planned nine Son-Won-II-class diesel electric submarines. …
Donald J. Trump is president-elect of the United States. What are the consequences for Australia? Following a 15 minute phone call with Mr Trump, Prime Minister Turnbull moved to reassure a shell-shocked public that it’s …
When you think of American and Soviet Cold War nuclear arsenals, the descriptor ‘huge’ automatically comes to mind. One technological innovation in the 1970s contributed more than any other factor to the creation of those …