Talisman Sabre exercise kicks off
A massive, multinational exercise led by Australian and U.S. forces kicked off last week (July 2021), military.com reports.
On its surface, Talisman Sabre is a...
Japan Defence White Paper 2021 released
The Japanese Government has released its latest Defence White Paper. In particular it provides an interesting assessment of security issues as they relate to...
The best form of defence
A detailed article on new Defence Minister Peter Dutton about his approach to spending cites his quote: “I want to make sure that we’re...
Should Australia worry about China’s military capability?
By Clive Williams*
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) (comprising all five forces) looks impressive in terms of total numbers of active military personnel (2,185,000)...
War talk distorting defence priorities
By Neil Hart*
There’s no shortage of rhetoric about Australia’s changing strategic environment, and the key thread is that the possibility of major conflict in...
As in 1939, ADF woefully unprepared
By Hans J. Ohff and Jon Stanford*
When Prime Minister Scott Morrison compared Australia’s strategic situation to that in 1939, he was right in two respects....
Defence spending: promises and needs
Marcus Hellyer*
Once again, the Australian government has delivered exactly the funding it promised in the 2016 defence white paper and 2020 defence strategic update...
Threat demands higher defence spending
By Peter Jennings*
In last week’s expansionary budget, one area that felt a bit underdone was defence. Here, the government delivered what it promised 12...
Responding to ‘grey zone’ attacks
By Joseph V. Micallef*
In 1993, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, James Woolsey, the newly appointed director of the Central...
Defence Budget hits $44.6 billion
By Marcus Hellyer*
The 2021–22 budget was a ‘no surprises’ one for Defence. The government set out its plan in the 2016 white paper, reaffirmed...