The title of this post sounds outrageous. How can there be any shortcomings of the next Defence White Paper (DWP) when it’s yet to be written? But the next DWP won’t emerge from thin air—it’ll …
It’s my fault. I should have known better, really. I foolishly issued a challenge asking those who insist we need an amphibious capability to make their case—and Peter Dean quickly did. The essential point is …
Please stop the fixation with platforms and the past! Let’s better understand Australia’s amphibious capability of the future. Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown said it well at an ASPI dinner in October. …
Peter Layton’s article on ‘The Navy We Need’ makes some interesting points, but puts the platform cart before the function horse, despite his interest in the US Navy’s ideas of ‘presence’. He also falls into …
Once again battle has been joined on the shape of Australia’s next Navy. While this may appear as merely differing opinions on our future navy’s role, lurking barely submerged are the omnipresent (sea) battles over …
I’m a journalist. This means, self-evidently, that I bring precious little expertise to any discussion of strategic policy. Apart from, perhaps, some experience (I’m not quite as young as I look) and an interest in …
I substantially agree with Hugh White’s analysis of the overall structure of Australia’s surface fleet—or at least the amphibious assault component of it. One of the original justifications for seeking an LHD of more than …
Hugh White got it wrong last week. He erroneously asserted that the two amphibious Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) and three Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) ships currently being built for the Navy are destined for a …
A lively debate has emerged on Australia’s $8 billion acquisition of three Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs*). Some see the possibility that the new government in Canberra might add another AWD to this procurement order—though …
The principal Liberal Party defence proposals at the recent election were to increase funding, deliver yet another White Paper and have yet another reform program. All pretty standard stuff really, especially as the other side …
With a new government taking charge, the proposal to build a fourth Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) has re-emerged. Unsurprisingly, the loudest voices are those with a vested interest, including shipbuilders and shipyard unions. So far, …
Today marks the 20th anniversary of recent history’s best known small-scale battle, immortalised in Ridley Scott’s movie Black Hawk Down. An attempt by a small US special operations force to apprehend two of Somali warlord …