Articles

Norman Friedman: At the end of February Lockheed-Martin received a contract for two linked shipboard laser systems: a high-energy laser intended to deal with unmanned aircraft and small boats, and a counter-unmanned aircraft dazzler linked to a long-range high-resolution camera. The system, to be delivered in 2020, is called HELIOS (High Energy Laser and Integrated Dazzler with Surveillance). The navy already operates a laser intended to deal with small boats (on board the base ship Ponce). The associated aiming/surveillance system has proven quite valuable in examining potential threats before engaging them. HELIOS is to be integrated with the Aegis system on board cruisers and destroyers; as such it is to be the first standardized U.S. Navy laser weapon.

* By Allan Gyngell For countries like New Zealand and Australia, the international environment is getting much tougher. The post-war global order, within which their...

The term multidomain has reached beyond mainstream military parlance to dominate defense-related discussions, concept papers, and op-eds. While the idea of operating across warfighting domains is hardly original, the rapid growth of capabilities tied to the newly minted space and cyber domains is forcing a re-examination of all previous military concepts and doctrine. This article explores the debate around multidomain battle (MDB).

Mike Scrafton: There’s a problem now with Australia’s strategic logic. It isn’t a criticism of previous strategic guidance documents that they failed to anticipate seminal events that affected the international environment: the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union; the 1998 nuclear tests by India and Pakistan; 9/11 and the subsequent long war on terror. Few anywhere predicted these events. But there might be less an excuse for recent Australian white papers ignoring the fragility of the liberal international order.

There’s a wide range of threats and threat actors in cyberspace, including criminals, terrorists who predominantly use the internet to communicate and plan and some nation states who cause disruption and steal sensitive commercial and other information. Cyberspace is also a new domain of warfare where over 100 countries are developing offensive capability.

  Outgoing Deputy Chief of Navy Rear Admiral (RADM) Mike Noonan presents incoming DCN, RADM Mark Hammond with the "weight" during a small ceremony at...

The WA Defence Review has recently a two part interview with the Henderson Alliance Spokesperson, Mr Darryl Hockey, who outlines the current and...

Australian Naval History Video & Podcast Series The second of the three compelling episodes on the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam has been released on the Naval Studies Group webpage at https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/australian-centre-for-the-study-of-armed-conflict-and-society/naval-studies-group/australian-naval-history-podcast and on all podcast apps.

As the United States Navy looks to space and cyber as new domains for warfare, it also ought to look deeper: to the seafloor. Increased competition for vital resources and the intent to control critical sea lines of communication will drive nations and their navies to the seabed. There are three serious operational challenges ahead for the U.S. Navy that will require both technical and intellectual investment to properly establish security on the seafloor.

While Amazon continues to pilot its fully autonomous drone delivery system, Amazon PrimeAir, an autonomous delivery system millions of times larger is occurring at sea. And whether you are the passenger on-board a cruise ship or you hire a shipping company to transport your belongings overseas, in a few years, you will increasingly be at the mercy of a self-driving ship.