Articles

World naval developments Oct 2017

By Norman Friedman* In October, it was reported that in 2015 a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor had inadvertently compromised the agency’s software both for protecting U.S. cyber systems and for penetrating Russian ones. Quite aside from the damage reportedly done, the story is interesting for its hints of ongoing cyber warfare and for the mechanism used to steal NSA’s secrets.

By Dave Andre* In the spring of 1798, the United States found itself in an undeclared naval war with France. Known as the Quasi-War, this eighteenth century “half-war” holds valuable lessons for maintaining maritime superiority in the twenty-first century.

The Australia-India bilateral relationship has not developed consistently across foreign policy and economic processes in recent decades. Recent bilateral engagements endorsed or set in place by Prime Ministers Abbott and Modi, and taken forward by Modi and Prime Minister Turnbull include the Comprehensive Economic Agreement (CECA), the Civil Nuclear Co-operation Agreement and the Framework for Security Co-operation. Regional multilateral engagements, both shared and separate, show either little movement, are stable or are advancing.

The ANI’s 2017 Goldrick Seminar on 26 October was a great success with more than 200 people attending. It was held in partnership with the University of NSW and the Submarine Institute at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

The Battle of the Coral Sea, Episode 2 of the Australian Naval History podcast has been released.

This article is adapted from a presentation to the Australian Naval Institute’s 2017 Goldrick seminar. By Andrew Davies* Let me start with something nice and uncontroversial. Submarines might be obsolete by the middle of the century. It’s possible that advances in artificial intelligence (AI), detection systems and signal processing, combined with swarming autonomous unmanned systems, could make it effectively impossible for submarines to maintain their stealth. To give just one example, quantum detection systems capable of picking up extremely subtle magnetic signals could be deployed on a large number of unmanned surface vessels, all networked together to provide an essential real-time map of the magnetic field over an extended area.

By Richard D. Fisher* Potential modernization plans or ambitions of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) were revealed in unprecedented detail by a former PLAN Rear Admiral in a university lecture, perhaps within the last 2-3 years. The Admiral, retired Rear Admiral Zhao Dengping, revealed key programs such as: a new medium-size nuclear attack submarine; a small nuclear auxiliary engine for conventional submarines; ship-based use of anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs); next-generation destroyer capabilities; and goals for PLAN Air Force modernization.

The Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne, announced (Oct 2017) five Defence Innovation Hub innovation contracts totalling $5.9 million. He said it demonstrated the government’s...

By Joanne Wallis* It is common for Australian politicians, policymakers and commentators to talk about security in the Asia-Pacific region, but what they are really...

By Pranaav Gupta* The Indian Ocean Region is one of the key foreign policy priorities of the present Indian Government. India has the capacity to undertake the role of a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region. The growing presence of China in the Indian Ocean Region is viewed with suspicion in India, which has sought to build a collective security framework with other Indian Ocean littoral states. India, Australia and the United States can play an important role by co-operating more closely in maintaining a rules-based order in the Indian Ocean Region.