The Australian government is about to deliberate on the combat management system (CMS) for the navy’s future frigates. In the mix are Saab Australia’s 9LV, which is already working well on the RAN’s Anzac class …
Articles by: "Andrew Davies"
In previous posts I looked at the major structural reforms recommended in the recent intelligence review and at the legislative changes that will be required to implement them. Today I look at the oversight of …
With President Trump’s latest comments that North Korea is facing a response of ‘fire and fury’ if it endangers the US, it’s clear that the US president is at least thinking about a pre-emptive strike …
In my previous post on the recently released 2017 Independent Intelligence Review, I promised to come back to the subject of oversight. But before we get to that, it’s important to understand the legislative framework …
There’s an air of ‘continuity with change’ about the new Independent Intelligence Review. The review almost flew under the radar this week amid all of the other changes to Australia’s national security apparatus. This post …
James Mugg’s recent piece made a convincing case that the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability of surface combatants is more about the aircraft they embark than about systems on the ships themselves. In this post I …
Defence spent $8.3 billion on sustaining its equipment in 2016–17, compared with $9.3 billion on new capital equipment. But most of the words written on defence procurement (including mine) are about acquisition projects. Thankfully the …
We wrote an ASPI report on ballistic missile defence (BMD) back in 2014. We set out to assess whether the time was right for Australia to make a bigger investment in BMD than the ‘watching …
In the previous part of my exploration of the impact of strong encryption on our security agencies, I described the unsophisticated days of intercepting telephony in the 1970s. With voice communications, it’s largely a case …
Today I’m coming back to a subject long dear to me—the cost of the Future Submarine program. Long term followers of the subject might recall ASPI’s 2009 paper How to buy a submarine (PDF), which …
The debate about law enforcement access to encrypted communications has flared up again recently. It seems that everyone has a view on the subject, including a string of American visitors to our shores: US Senator …
It has been a little over a year since the government released its Defence Industry Policy Statement. As well as setting a new world record for using the word ‘innovation’ in a single document, the …