With wars in Europe and the Middle East, and Chinese naval task groups operating closer to Australia, the familiar line that ‘this is our most challenging strategic environment since World War II’ is starting to …
Articles by: "Jennifer Parker"
Australians feeling the sting of high fuel prices at the bowser or seeing supplies struggle to reach regional communities are being reminded just how dependent Australia is on the arrival of supplies by sea. That dependence sits …
Paranoia about fuel supplies has suddenly entered Australia’s mainstream debate, as Canberra wakes up and starts counting how many frigates and destroyers the Royal Australian Navy actually has. It is a familiar pattern. Australia rediscovers …
In the second week of the escalating conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran, Australia on 10 March announced a limited contribution to help under-attack Gulf states detect and shoot down Iranian missiles and …
Fifty years after the Tange reforms created the modern Australian Defence Force, Australia faces a structural problem that few are willing to confront: steady erosion of the service chiefs’ authority. Over successive reviews and reorganisations, …
Saturday night, a missile struck the United States 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, a base where I served in 2023. That strike is a reminder of how much the strategic landscape has hardened in recent …
1 March 1901 marked the establishment of Australia’s Commonwealth military and naval forces, the foundation of today’s Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army. The sea service’s initial title was ‘Commonwealth Naval Forces’; a decade later …
The release of the Defence Estate Audit on 4 February marks another milestone in the government’s effort to reshape Australia’s defence posture. It seeks to rationalise the commonwealth’s largest infrastructure portfolio and is a long-overdue …
It is not even the end of January, yet 2026 is already marking a decisive break in the global order, and in Australia’s place within it. China ended 2025 with its largest military activity around …
As with 2025, early 2026 sees AUKUS Pillar One, Australia’s plan to acquire a nuclear-powered submarine capability, back in the headlines. This time the focus is claims by a former Royal Navy admiral and former …
The Royal Australian Navy’s greatest challenge isn’t introducing nuclear submarines and considerably expanding the surface fleet, as daunting as those objectives are. Rather, it is transitioning from a peacetime force to one with a maritime …
The image was confronting: Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, handcuffed aboard a US warship, the USS Iwo Jima. It was a moment that made clear 2026 will be no calmer than the year before. From Australia, …