Japan’s record defence spending request
The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) on August 31 requested $52.9 billion (7.7 trillion yen) for fiscal year 2024, its largest ever defense budget...
Ukraine’s maritime drone unit
On August 24, as part of the Independence Day celebrations, President Zelensky, recognized a unique unit in the Ukrainian Navy, Naval News reports. The...
Gaining a social licence for AUKUS
By Peter K. Lee, Alice Nason and Sophie Mayo*
The Australian Labor Party is firmly committed to the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines, at least according to...
South Korea and Japan’s Taiwan concerns
By John Fitzgerald*
A piece missing from Australian conversations on the China–US tangle over Taiwan is the island’s growing strategic importance to other countries in...
Australia’s new archipelagic deterrence
By Andrew Carr*
During the Cold War, Australian defence strategy was known as ‘forward defence’. Then came the ‘defence of Australia’ period, followed by the...
China-Philippines showdown looms over islands
As leaders across Asia descend on Jakarta for the annual ASEAN and East Asia summits this week, one regional flashpoint is looming large, the...
Remembering Vice Admiral Robert Walls AO RAN (Retired)
By John Mortimer and John Perryman
On 28 August 2023 Vice Admiral Robert Andrew Kevin Walls passed away after a long illness. He was an...
Report on US Navy force structure and shipbuilding plans
On 31 August the US Congressional Research Service released a 54 page report on the US Navy’s Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans.
The report covers...
HMAS Waller conducts Exercise with TNI-AL
On 31 August the submarine HMAS Waller conducted a passage exercise with the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) in waters near Bali. The TNI-AL warships taking...
China adds new land and sea with new map
Waves of anger spread across the South China Sea and India this week, following China’s publication of a new official map renewing its illegal...