Sea State Indonesia is continuing with its program of literally blowing up illegal fishing boats in its waters. On Saturday, authorities simultaneously destroyed 81 foreign vessels at 12 different locations, in what Maritime and Fisheries …
Sea State The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s second Izumo-class helicopter carrier, the Kaga, entered service last week. The warship is expected to embark Mitsubishi-Sikorsky SH-60K Seahawk anti-submarine warfare helicopters and AgustaWestland/Kawasaki MCH-101 aircraft for mine-countermeasures. …
Sea State In its biggest show of naval force in the Asia–Pacific since WWII, Japan has unveiled plans to send its largest warship—the Izumo helicopter carrier—on a three-month tour of the South China Sea, kicking …
Sea State For an (alarming) maritime security synopsis, check out this Navy Times article which examines today’s five most dangerous at-sea deployments. In reverse order, they are: South China Sea, Black Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea …
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces several pressing issues over the next few years, many of which are linked to his commitment to revising Article 9 of the Japanese constitution. Under what’s known as the …
Over five decades, Australia has expanded its defence and security guarantee to stretch from Timor-Leste through Papua New Guinea to all of the South Pacific. Today Australia offers its strategic weight, proximity and resources to …
I was invited to appear last week at a hearing of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee Review of the Department of Defence Annual Report 2015–16. The review is an …
Sea State More plans are surfacing in response to Sen. John McCain’s defence budget white paper and the US Navy’s Force Structure Assessment. The Centre for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and MITRE have both …
The fall of Singapore reflects failure at many levels, but not in the way most observers think. The British had to fight the war they got in 1939, rather than a war that was yet …
Sea State A Saudi Arabian frigate was attacked by Houthi rebels in waters west of Yemen on 30 January. Conflicting reports are floating around about the attack method—while the official Saudi Press Agency attributed it …
In a recent article for The Strategist, I showed how Russia’s economic woes are negatively affecting plans to modernise the country’s military. In order to be thrifty, Moscow has, for the most part, been investing …
Originally published 13 September 2016. ‘Anti-access/area denial’ (commonly known as A2AD) has become a hot topic in recent years. Many have detailed the threats that A2AD weapons systems pose to the US military, especially its …