Ensuring greater security self-reliance for Australia and being a more useful security partner lead to the same place. By being judicious about which military capabilities it invests in, Australia can ensure its own security, achieve …
Debate: "General"
The Australian Defence Force reserves are increasingly weighted in the country’s south and east, despite Defence strategy prioritising the north. It’s much the same pattern seen in the distribution of active ADF personnel, though for …
Defence Minister Richard Marles today announced the government’s new National Defence Strategy (NDS) and its accompanying spending outline, the Integrated Investment Program (IIP). This is Australia’s second NDS. The first, released in 2024, outlined Australia’s …
Today’s National Defence Strategy, announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, correctly reasserts that Australia’s security interests lie in becoming more self-reliant, which requires an enhancement of our own national capabilities in …
Northern Territory growth has stabilised, but its foundations remain weak, and that should concern anyone serious about Australia’s defence posture. The Darwin Major Business Group’s latest Over the Horizon 2026 report shows a territory economy …
Iranian research years ago pointed to development of the strike drones that have been lighting up air defences across the Gulf and, by threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, holding the world economy hostage. …
In the span of five years, first-person view (FPV) racing drones have graduated from local parks to the front lines of modern warfare. The Ukraine–Russia conflict has irrevocably demonstrated the democratisation of air power. Cheap, …
Giving blanket access to US military aircraft through Indonesian airspace, as proposed in a classified US defence document reported by international media this week, risks compromising the country’s sovereignty and national security. Indonesia should not …
For decades, notions of laser weapons have been the stuff of science fiction. Now they are becoming military reality, as directed-energy weapons, including high-energy lasers and high-power microwave weapons, open new approaches to counter swarms …
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 …
Australia may not lose most public accountability for Defence acquisition spending after all. The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has quietly begun work on what looks very much like a replacement for the discontinued Major …
Chinese media narratives on the Middle East conflict present this external crisis as a validation of China’s national security strategies. While official statements show diplomatic and humanitarian support for Iran, media narratives reveal Beijing’s strategic …