Sea State The Friday before last, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews announced that the panel overseeing the competitive evaluation process for Australia’s future submarine project will be headed by Professor Donald Winter—a former secretary of the …
With the second G7 kicking off next Monday, and plenty of foreign and security policy issues set to be on the table, make sure you take a look at German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s op-ed in …
Sea State The 2015 Shangri-La Dialogue ran over the weekend, and maritime security issues featured prominently in the wake of escalating tensions in the South China Sea. In his keynote address, US Secretary of Defense …
The IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore is the place to be this weekend. The stage is set for a fiery (cross) dialogue this year, with US Defense Secretary Ash Carter recently emphasising that the US won’t be recognising China’s …
Sea State Last week, TKMS opened its dockyards in Kiel to visiting Australian defence writers to discuss its submarine and surface fleet operations. The Germans have displayed a transparency in the competitive evaluation process that …
Headlining today’s wrap-up are three must-read pieces on Australia’s strategic choices and China. In the first, Bonnie Glaser (who’s visiting Australia at the moment) argues that ‘Australia should join the US to implement a cost imposition strategy …
Sea State At last week’s MAST Asia 2015 conference on maritime defence and security technology in Yokohama, it became apparent that Japan’s two largest defence manufacturers—Mitsubishi and Kawasaki—are awaiting the Japanese government’s lead on two …
If you missed last night’s ASPI event ‘Australia and Indonesia: getting back on track’, Felicity Norman has a cracking rundown of the main themes on New Mandala here (video of the event to follow shortly). Australia isn’t the only country …
Sea State Japan is a serious contender to nab the SEA 1000 project, as news broke last week that the country is expected to provide Australia classified data on Soryu-class submarines. Previously, Japan has only …
Sea State This week’s release of ministerial advice under freedom of information laws has revealed that by discussing the high likelihood of Japan winning the SEA 1000 contract last year, Prime Minister Abbott acted against …
Sea State Earlier this week, tensions between the US and Iran in the Gulf of Aden eased when Iranian vessels suspected of carrying arms for the Houthi rebels in Yemen began a slow retreat towards …
Flight path It looks as if Russia isn’t just flexing its muscles in Eastern Europe. Last Wednesday, Japan reported Russian incursions in its northern skies. Along with Chinese combat aircraft in its southern airspace, this …