I read MP Dennis Jensen’s article ‘Time to remember the Vietnam air war lesson’ in yesterday’s West Australian with interest. In essence, Dr Jensen paraphrases the US Air Force experience in Vietnam as placing too …
Articles by: "Andrew Davies"
At the ASPI land power conference a few weeks ago, the PM promised an enterprise-level naval shipbuilding plan based around a rolling-build program. This will bring joy to the hearts of the burghers of South …
Last week there was a real flurry in the press and the blogosphere about the performance of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Or, more accurately, about the lack of manoeuvre performance in a trial against …
Having to resist the urge to take a cheap shot is an occupational hazard in my business, and one that I don’t always successfully avoid. Once such was the title I gave to a review …
When I started to ponder Army aviation in its totality, I realised that force structure planning and project definition for Army aviation is a bit of a mess. Lest that sound a bit harsh, let …
Australia and Canada have similar defence problems. Both have a continental area to surveil and defend; and both front onto three oceans, while having to build their defence forces from the resources of relatively small …
We’ve been thinking about the manufacturing sector in Australia in the wrong way. The general perception is that it’s in a terminal decline, which will be realised when the last of the big car …
It’s hard to say which is worse: the Navy’s attempt to hide its performance behind a cloak of secrecy or its abject failure to do so effectively. Back in late 2012, it was possible to …
Hanoi is one of the best settings in which to contemplate the limits of American power. The Vietnam War showed that a determined adversary (with substantial help from two major powers) can resist even a …
I’ve recently discussed two trends in military technology. The week before lasts’ post on the 1990s non-revolution in military affairs argued that low-tech adversaries simply make themselves scarce when faced with a technologically superior foe. …
I was recently asked to give a lecture at ANU about the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA). For those born after 1990—of which I encounter a distressingly large number in my professional life these days—RMA …
The news that Australia has done a deal to exchange intelligence with Iran generated some fierce criticism from independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who described the arrangement as ‘complete and utter madness from a security point of …