{"id":68373,"date":"2021-11-05T13:23:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T02:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=68373"},"modified":"2021-11-05T13:23:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T02:23:18","slug":"the-five-domains-update-143","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/","title":{"rendered":"The five-domains update"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Sea state<\/strong><\/p>\n

An Astute-class submarine from the UK\u2019s carrier strike group has docked<\/a> at HMAS Stirling<\/a> naval base in Perth, giving Australian naval personnel an opportunity to observe its capabilities<\/a>. It\u2019s the first Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine to dock in Australia since the AUKUS agreement and Australia\u2019s planned acquisition of nuclear submarines were announced in September. The Astute class is the UK\u2019s largest and most advanced<\/a> submarine and is a potential model for Australia\u2019s, though at the moment the frontrunner looks to be the US Virginia class<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a new report<\/a>, ASPI\u2019s Marcus Hellyer argues that Australia\u2019s naval acquisition strategy should include additional Hobart-class air warfare destroyers to address significant imminent capability gaps. Hellyer argues that the destroyers, which have a mature design and well-understood building processes<\/a>, could be built in South Australia and delivered faster than the Hunter-class frigates, the first of which is not due until 2033. This approach could generate thousands of skilled jobs in South Australia following the cancellation of the Naval Group submarine deal<\/a>, while augmenting Australia\u2019s anti-submarine capability sooner.<\/p>\n

Flight path<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the span of a week, two major Chinese aircraft developments were leaked on social media. The first consisted of images<\/a> of a two-seater version of the Chengdu J-20, which could make China the first country to develop a two-seat stealth fighter<\/a>. A few days later, a second leak displayed a carrier-compatible prototype<\/a> of the Shenyang FC-31\u2014potentially the first carrier-capable stealth fighter developed outside the US. While not yet officially confirmed, these technological developments only amplify US concerns<\/a> surrounding China\u2019s rapidly expanding military capability.<\/p>\n

The US Air Force is looking to acquire<\/a> the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail to replace its ageing E-3 Sentry fleet<\/a>. Originally designed for the Royal Australian Air Force in 1999, the E-7A<\/a> is an airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Boeing 737. It\u2019s lighter and more advanced than the 707-based E-3, the USAF\u2019s second oldest aircraft after the B-52.<\/a> Other countries that currently fly the Wedgetail are Turkey and South Korea, and the UK expects to have them in service by 2023.<\/a><\/p>\n

Rapid fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Satellite photos have revealed a renewed expansion<\/a> of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border, similar to the 100,000-strong build-up<\/a> earlier this year. Janes<\/a> has confirmed that Russia\u2019s 4th tank division and parts of the 1st Guards Tank Army\u2014both equipped with T-80U tanks and self-propelled artillery\u2014have taken positions along both the Ukrainian and Belarusian borders. Meanwhile, state-controlled gas company Gazprom halved its supply<\/a> to Ukraine starting on Monday. The movements follow US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u2019s visits to Ukraine and Georgia, where the possibilities of both countries joining NATO<\/a> were discussed, infuriating Moscow.<\/p>\n

US special forces have taken part in an exercise to destroy simulated Russian air defence systems<\/a>, as the US Army goes through a reconceptualisation of special operations to focus on \u2018hard target<\/a>\u2019 and \u2018near-peer adversaries such as Russia or China\u2019. The exercise involved mock launchers that can mimic the physical and radar signatures of Russian defence systems. Such drills are important as the US moves from decades of counterterrorism operations in \u2018permissive airspace\u2019 to supporting large-scale and high-end operations against major adversaries.<\/p>\n

Final frontier<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recent reporting by the Financial Times<\/em> has suggested that China launched<\/a> a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August, raising concerns<\/a> for US policymakers about China\u2019s advancing military modernisation. A policy brief published by the Asia\u2013Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament argues<\/a> that the danger has been overstated, as it\u2019s likely China tested an orbital bombardment system which is not an indication of a step-up in China\u2019s nuclear power. The brief stresses the need for better international agreements and more frequent dialogue on space security.<\/p>\n

Experts have proposed<\/a> that US space systems be classified as critical infrastructure so that they\u2019re prioritised to receive greater protection against cyberattacks. US space technologies aren\u2019t replicated in other sectors and play a significant role in preserving US national security interests, but they\u2019re poorly protected against cyberattacks. If passed by Congress, the Space Infrastructure Act, introduced in June 2020, will designate space systems as critical infrastructure<\/a>, qualifying them for protection.<\/p>\n

Wired watchtower<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week, Papua New Guinea\u2019s Finance Ministry was hit by a ransomware attack<\/a> that blocked the government\u2019s access to foreign aid totalling hundreds of millions of dollars. Finance Minister John Pundari said the government had refused to pay the requested sum. Although the systems are now fully restored, the attack has exposed PNG\u2019s ongoing cyber vulnerabilities and financial reliance on development partners. Last year, an Australian report exposed how the Chinese-owned Huawei data centre in PNG had exposed<\/a> secret documents to theft.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s Supreme Court has ordered<\/a> an inquiry into whether the government used Pegasus surveillance software to illegally spy on activists, opposition leaders and journalists by covertly accessing the cameras and microphones on their smartphones. The decision was in response to allegations by several prominent journalists and activists that they had been under government surveillance. The judges noted the implications for political and press freedoms, declaring that an independent inquiry was needed to \u2018determine the truth and get to the bottom of the issue\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sea state An Astute-class submarine from the UK\u2019s carrier strike group has docked at HMAS Stirling naval base in Perth, giving Australian naval personnel an opportunity to observe its capabilities. It\u2019s the first Royal Navy …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1243,"featured_media":68380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[130,1948,1640,714],"class_list":["post-68373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-naval-capabilities","tag-ransomware","tag-space","tag-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe five-domains update | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The five-domains update | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sea state An Astute-class submarine from the UK\u2019s carrier strike group has docked at HMAS Stirling naval base in Perth, giving Australian naval personnel an opportunity to observe its capabilities. It\u2019s the first Royal Navy ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-05T02:23:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wedgetail20511.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hillary Mansour\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hillary Mansour\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wedgetail20511.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wedgetail20511.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":801},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/\",\"name\":\"The five-domains update | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-05T02:23:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-05T02:23:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/964252613944ba38a04f9aee4f0392d3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The five-domains update\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/964252613944ba38a04f9aee4f0392d3\",\"name\":\"Hillary Mansour\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86dbc7c5f7f2982cf8b87c518763c22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86dbc7c5f7f2982cf8b87c518763c22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hillary Mansour\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/hillary-mansour\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The five-domains update | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The five-domains update | The Strategist","og_description":"Sea state An Astute-class submarine from the UK\u2019s carrier strike group has docked at HMAS Stirling naval base in Perth, giving Australian naval personnel an opportunity to observe its capabilities. It\u2019s the first Royal Navy ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2021-11-05T02:23:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":801,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wedgetail20511.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hillary Mansour","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hillary Mansour","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wedgetail20511.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wedgetail20511.jpg","width":1200,"height":801},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/","name":"The five-domains update | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-11-05T02:23:18+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-05T02:23:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/964252613944ba38a04f9aee4f0392d3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-five-domains-update-143\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The five-domains update"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/964252613944ba38a04f9aee4f0392d3","name":"Hillary Mansour","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86dbc7c5f7f2982cf8b87c518763c22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86dbc7c5f7f2982cf8b87c518763c22e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hillary Mansour"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/hillary-mansour\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68373"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68373"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68381,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68373\/revisions\/68381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}