Australia’s defence force structure has evolved over many years around defending the ‘sea–air gap’ as a perceived strategic moat. That construct dates back to the late 1980s, when the outlook was far more benign and …
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It has been just five years since China initiated its major land reclamation in the South China Sea, and the country has already shifted the territorial status quo in its favor—without facing any international pushback. …
In an incident that has attracted relatively little media attention in Australia, the modern 5,300-ton Norwegian frigate KNM Helge Ingstad sank in a Norwegian fjord after a collision with the large Maltese-registered oil tanker Sola …
My recent study, Thinking through submarine transition, examines the long journey from Australia’s current submarine capability consisting of six Collins-class submarines to its future capability to be provided by 12 Shortfin Barracudas. I argue that …
Indonesia and Australia share one of the longest maritime boundaries in the world. They also share a unique bond as neighbours at the maritime crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The relationship between the …
The many submariners dismayed over decades by claims that their Australian-built Collins-class boats are ‘dud subs’ may ultimately be vindicated by the appearance of a sophisticated, long-range ‘Son of Collins’. Swedish industrial giant Saab now …
Steel for the Royal Australian Navy’s first offshore patrol vessel is being cut in Western Australia and trucked to Adelaide where construction is set to begin next week. The vessel is the first of 12 …
The conversation about acquiring nuclear-powered submarines continues to bubble along. Some commentators who previously supported acquiring conventional submarines to replace the current Collins class, such as former prime minister Tony Abbott, now favour the nuclear …
Sea state The British amphibious vessel HMS Albion became involved in a minor confrontation with a Chinese frigate and two PLAN helicopters near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea late last month. China …
One of the things that often struck me during my career as a civilian bureaucrat in the Defence Department’s capability development area was the relatively limited amount of public debate about our future armoured vehicle …
As the Defence Department prepares to spend $10–15 billion buying the modern equivalent of the armoured knight, in the shape of 450 infantry fighting vehicles, it risks committing the army’s future to a capability with …
For very good reasons, maritime security concerns, particularly those centred on the South China Sea, have featured prominently in ASEAN member states’ individual and collective agendas over the last decade. The 10 ASEAN nations face …