I was invited to appear last week at a hearing of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee Review of the Department of Defence Annual Report 2015–16. The review is an …
Articles by: "Andrew Davies"
It seems like everyone’s getting a drone these days. The latest kid on the block is the Navy, which is about to start experimenting with the capabilities of remotely piloted aircraft. Last week, Schiebel announced …
The new US President has taken a very hands-on approach to defence procurement, particularly in the case of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. On December 21, then-President-elect Trump met with the CEO of Lockheed Martin, …
The Australian Naval Institute recently published the inaugural edition of its Australian Naval Review. I was pleased to be asked to contribute to the first issue, and subscribers to the Institute will be able to …
Originally published 6 October. By all accounts, there’s to be another review of Australia’s intelligence agencies in the near future. The ‘major independent review’ will be the third in 15 years and it’s variously reported …
While Australia and Canada are similar in many ways, their approaches to defence policy are quite different, not least when it comes to their defence budgets. While Australia’s GDP is about 18% smaller than that …
I had the good fortune to be in Perth last week as a speaker at the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Defence Conference. The ‘take home’ messages of my presentation were: the government has …
The government’s decision to pursue multi-decade domestic ship and submarine building programs sits oddly with decades of economic reform. Successive governments have striven to maintain competition in the Australian economy, and for good reason. …
As we wrote back in March, the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee held an inquiry into Australia’s acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The election campaign in the middle of the …
There’s been talk lately about so-called plans for the US Navy battle force inventory to return to 350 vessels. President-elect Trump has pledged to begin the biggest naval build-up since the 1980s. The USN inventory …
I spoke on the subject of the deterrent value of submarines at the Submarine Institute of Australia annual conference yesterday. I was preaching to the choir with that crowd, but I’m often asked at public …
Mark Thomson and I have been following the status of the Collins class submarines for some years now, and we’re happy to see the upbeat new installment of the Coles review (PDF). There’s some good …