It has been a big week in the Middle East, as Russia became the first foreign military to operate from Iranian soil since at least World War 2. Russian Tu-22M3 bombers and Su-34 fighters took …
Sea State China’s naval capacity received a big boost this past week with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) adding not one but two vessels to its fleet. The PLA-N launched a Type 052D Luyang …
Istanbul, in western Turkey, is one of Europe’s great cities. As Constantinople, it was the capital of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, and after its capture and renaming by Mehmed II in 1453, it served …
There’s renewed interest of late in the US Navy’s electromagnetic railgun. Plans to perform at-sea weapon testing appear to have been delayed in favour of further research. So, while development will probably continue, there are …
Are modern-day frigates really cruisers, or is it just that the present-day needs of a frigate require the 6,000-plus tonnage of an old-fashioned cruiser? Alastair Cooper exchanged a polite broadside with ASPI’s Andrew Davies on …
The US Department of Defense’s third offset strategy has prompted much discussion since it was first announced in November 2014. The strategy, which has been allocated a US$18 billion budget, aims to ‘offset’ growing Chinese …
The volume of traffic travelling through Australia’s maritime approaches—along with a diversifying threat environment—is putting ever-increasing strain on border security assets. In the coming years, Maritime Border Command will come under pressure to capture, filter, …
‘Alternative Futures’ is a methodology sometimes used in strategic planning, in which the robustness of current plans is tested against various hypothetical futures. (The RAND Corporation sometimes uses this approach—they used it to test US …
Jutland veterans were not alone in their experience of failure and feelings of regret after the First World War, nor in their desire to get the Royal Navy back on track. Andrew Cunningham, later to …
The rapidly changing strategic landscape in the South China Sea threatens to marginalise Australia unless the government takes positive action now to remain a relevant and influential player in the region’s strategic calculus. Positive action …
Sea State USS Zumwalt, the lead ship of the US Navy’s next-generation guided missile destroyers, was formally delivered by shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works last Friday. The eagerly awaited 610-foot ship features a tumblehome …
Welcome to The Strategist Six, a feature that provides a glimpse into the thinking of prominent academics, government officials, military officers, reporters and interesting individuals from around the world. 1. You’ve recently returned from six …