Hugh White’s latest book has stimulated an important debate on the defence capabilities needed to preserve Australia as a sovereign state. In the recent posts on this subject on The Strategist, there’s been recognition of …
As the French launched the first of their Barracuda-class nuclear-powered attack submarines this month, the transfer of advanced intellectual property to Australia for its conventionally powered cousin gathered momentum. So far, 19 engineers from Naval …
Australia must massively reorganise its planned defence structure by selling off most of its surface ships, abandoning those still to be built and replacing them with a fleet of 24 or even 36 submarines and …
Kim Jong-un’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok in late April demonstrated conclusively that the North Korean leader has no intention of retreating from the international stage after February’s ill-fated summit with US …
The future submarine has achieved key milestones with the signing of the overarching strategic partnering agreement on 11 February and in quick succession the design contract on 5 March. This is good news for the …
Columnist Robert Gottliebsen’s frequent articles about the supposed deficiencies of our future combat aircraft and submarines and the implication that this has for our position in the region are often wildly inaccurate. Take the proposition …
There are substantially fewer nuclear weapons today than at the height of the Cold War. Yet the overall risks of nuclear war—by design, accident, rogue launch or system error—have grown in the second nuclear age. …
Japan has taken up the G20 presidency at a key time in global economic affairs and has the opportunity to shepherd the global economy through a period of greater uncertainty than there has been in …
The Royal Australian Navy has stopped its longstanding program of using pressurised submarine escape training to teach crews how to exit a stricken vessel. The decision to stop submariners practising escapes using a tower containing …
Japan’s decision to deploy the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the joint strike fighter, the F-35B, from its Izumo-class warships will transform them into what many predicted they would eventually become—small aircraft …
Originally published 14 November 2018. Australia’s future submarine capability isn’t in a good place. We started the program at least five years too late due to a combination of indifference from successive governments and a …
The recent advice from the chief of Australia’s navy that the first Shortfin Barracuda may not come into service until the mid-2030s is sobering news given Australia’s deteriorating strategic circumstances and the critical role the …