The Albanese government has accepted a recommendation in the defence strategic review (DSR) that the Australian Defence Force be released from most of its domestic disaster response roles to concentrate on the increasing regional security …
The Strategist on: "Defence strategic review"
The defence strategic review gives the clearest description yet of the perilous strategic circumstances in which we are living. It is not based on distant future scenarios but on the reality of the threats from …
Public discussion of the defence strategic review (DSR) has focused on the announced changes to major capability programs. On that score, the statement by Defence Minister Richard Marles that the DSR is ‘the most ambitious …
One of the most used quotes in support of the argument that the Australia Defence Force has no need for tanks in future structures is that they’re surplus to requirements because, in part, they haven’t …
With the release of an unclassified version of the defence strategic review just weeks away, we should give some thought to how to assess this important work. What criteria should we use to judge how …
The 2023 defence strategic review, which sets out how Australia can sustain its security and sovereignty, has been handed to the government. In terms of the concept of warning time developed in the 1987 defence …
What defence forces should Australia maintain at a time of strategic uncertainty and rapid technological change? This is the fundamental question currently facing Stephen Smith and Angus Houston, the authors of the defence strategic review. …
The government has said the Australian Defence Force requires greater long-range strike capability. This was first stated in the previous government’s 2020 defence strategic update, which emphasised the need for ‘self-reliant deterrent effects’. The current …
Recent statements by Defence Minister Richard Marles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have flagged an early outcome from the defence strategic review—the intention to acquire an ability for Australia to hold an adversary at risk at long …
A term that was unknown only a week or so ago has entered the lexicon of Australian strategic thought: ‘impactful projection’. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles first used it in an …
In 1946, US President Harry Truman, addressing Congress on the state of the Lend-Lease program, observed: ‘On balance, the contribution made by Australia, a country having a population of about 7 million, approximately equalled that …
The two independent leads of Australia’s defence strategic review, Stephen Smith and Angus Houston, have got their work cut out for them. The terms of reference require the reviewers to assess Australia’s strategic circumstances, recommend …