{"id":74747,"date":"2022-08-25T14:30:29","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T04:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=74747"},"modified":"2022-08-25T15:58:53","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T05:58:53","slug":"australia-can-be-an-arsenal-of-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-can-be-an-arsenal-of-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia can be an arsenal of democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

According to media reporting<\/a>, the Australian defence company DefendTex will provide Ukraine with 300 of its Drone40 small uncrewed aerial vehicles. The specification sheet<\/a> for the D40 says it has a range of 20 kilometres and a maximum flight time of 30 to 60 minutes. The D40 has a variant that carries a 40-millimetre grenade and functions as a loitering munition, or \u2018kamikaze drone\u2019 in common parlance, but it\u2019s also capable of carrying other payloads such as sensors and electronic warfare options. Its small size means it can be easily carried by dismounted soldiers and can be launched either from a 40-millimetre grenade launcher or simply thrown into the air.<\/p>\n

Coming on top of the most recent<\/a> announcements<\/a> of further high-tech US military aid, it\u2019s good news for Ukraine. It\u2019s increasingly clear that the war there is a struggle between 20th-century industrial-age warfare and 21st-century digital- and information-age warfare, with Ukraine\u2019s supporters in liberal democracies providing it with the systems needed to successfully conduct the latter. While Russia\u2019s industrial-age model may initially have had the advantage, that was largely due to the legacy of years of industrial production of weapons and munitions, which are now being rapidly consumed on the battlefield. But the technological pendulum is increasingly swinging in Ukraine\u2019s favour in ways that Russia can\u2019t hope to match, particularly while it is suffering from sanctions on high-tech components such as computer chips.<\/p>\n

The export success is also good news for DefendTex, an Australian-owned company with a history of innovation in the defence and security sector. But the sale does raise some issues. The first is, when will the Australian Department of Defence acquire the D40 in commercial quantities? The system, developed with funding support<\/a> from the Defence Innovation Hub, is now mature. It\u2019s been acquired by the British Army<\/a> and trialled by the US Marine Corps<\/a>. In fact, after trialling it, British soldiers insisted on taking it with them on their deployment to Mali.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen a proliferation of small drones in the war in Ukraine, both military and commercial. Any conflict Australian troops deploy to will be no different. But do we really want to see Australian troops having to improvise solutions on the battlefield\u2014as the Ukrainians have been forced to do, such as by using 3D printers to attach legacy mortar rounds to small consumer drones and turn them into mini-bombers\u2014when Australian industry already has the ability to provide them with world-leading equipment?<\/p>\n

Defence\u2019s innovation programs are a microcosm of the broader Australian research and development effort\u2014we create innovative products but can\u2019t seem to commercialise them at home. The D40\u2019s development was funded by Defence grants\u2014but one has to ask why Defence is funding innovative technologies if it\u2019s not going to acquire them once they\u2019re demonstrated to work. It\u2019s a common refrain from Australian small and medium-sized enterprises. In other countries, sales to the local defence force spur exports; here, Defence often won\u2019t buy local products until they\u2019ve been sold overseas, and even then it\u2019s no sure thing.<\/p>\n

The bigger issue is what this sale tells us about Australia\u2019s industrial capability. Australian industry can develop precise, lethal capabilities, and it can do it fast. And it doesn\u2019t need overseas intellectual property to do it.<\/p>\n

This is relevant in the context of the sovereign guided weapons enterprise announced by the previous government to provide secure supply chains for the munitions that are essential for modern warfighting. But so far, there seem to be two answers to the question of how we make anti-tank missiles here. The first, based on the experience of the Israeli Spike missile<\/a>, is we don\u2019t. Four years after the government announced Spike missiles would be built in Australia, Defence still hasn\u2019t started, apparently due to certification issues.<\/p>\n

The second answer, based on the trajectory of the sovereign guided weapons enterprise over the past two years, is to establish some kind of partnership with a large US prime contractor, then spend years negotiating around the strictures of the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations, overcoming Congress\u2019s qualms about outsourcing US jobs, setting up a production line, sourcing hundreds of components from supply chains around the world and finally, at some point down the track, producing a missile.<\/p>\n

However, if we turn the question around and ask how we can quickly develop ways to destroy armoured vehicles, we don\u2019t have to default to the answer being \u2018Build anti-tank missiles.\u2019 If we leverage the innovation and technologies of the commercial sector it can be done quickly. In short, it\u2019s a lot easier to precisely move high explosives from one point to another 10 kilometres away using existing commercial technologies such as small rotary-wing motors than it is to design and build rocket motors and put missiles around them. DefendTex has demonstrated that, but there are other small Australian companies that have adopted that approach to deliver the \u2018small, the smart and the many\u2019 in the form of cheap but precise loitering munitions.<\/p>\n

By all means, let\u2019s build US missiles here, but we also need to pursue other lines effort as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, if we have to wait for Defence to certify everything using its existing processes and standards, it seems we\u2019ll be waiting a long time for capability. Of course, the Ukrainians don\u2019t seem to be too concerned about certification of the weapons they\u2019re pressing into service.<\/p>\n

The basic fact is that Defence is an artificially protected monopoly. Monopolies simply can\u2019t innovate rapidly. The reason our electricity sector has managed to move down the path of renewables as far as it has despite the stonewalling of the previous federal government and the incumbent major players is that many other players have gained entry, creating competition and driving innovation. There are ways in which Defence should enjoy a natural monopoly; we don\u2019t advocate for mercenaries. But when Defence is both a monopoly provider of security services to the government and a monopsony consumer of security goods and services from industry, it is a recipe for stagnation. Sometimes Defence needs firm external direction\u2014it\u2019s the role of the new government and the defence strategic review to provide that.<\/p>\n

Developing Australian companies\u2019 ability to produce small guided weapons at scale won\u2019t just benefit our defence force. We\u2019ve recently seen the prospects for conflict over Taiwan intensify, provoking greater debate in Australia about what we would do if Beijing ordered an assault. Providing Taiwan with tens of thousands of small kamikaze drones that can sinking landing craft and destroy armoured vehicles will make a tangible difference to its prospects of resisting invasion\u2014perhaps even more of a difference than sending a small number of high-value Australian Defence Force assets and their crews.<\/p>\n

By leveraging the benefits of Industry 4.0, Australia can become a key part of the arsenal of democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to media reporting, the Australian defence company DefendTex will provide Ukraine with 300 of its Drone40 small uncrewed aerial vehicles. 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