Strategically, Japan and Australia have more in common than just about any two nations—to the extent that we are allies in all but treaty status. Australia wants—and in fact needs—that relationship to get even closer. …
The Chinese Communist Party is ramping up a multi-year propaganda and covert social media campaign focusing on Japan’s plans to release wastewater from the earthquake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. This is happening as a …
All arms of Defence are under pressure to make savings to help fund the nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) program while dealing with impact of inflation. The total resourcing for Defence over the three years to 2025-26 …
As the US, Taiwan and Australia struggle to assemble forces to face the challenge of a rapidly arming China, Japan is planning to discard good equipment that could be kept in service. It proposes to …
Since World War II, Japan had long chosen not to possess long-range strike capabilities that could be used against enemy bases. But the Japanese government changed course in December 2022 when it adopted the new …
When I was Australia’s ambassador to the United States, I visited General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, one of two yards constructing the Virginia-class submarines. A Virginia was the backdrop in San Diego last …
Critical minerals are vital components in today’s rapidly growing clean-energy industry. They’re used in advanced technologies like electric vehicles and batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, fibre-optic cables and semiconductor chips. But the supply chain for …
The upper estimate of $368 billion for Australia’s acquisition of eight nuclear-powered submarines is an impossibly large number. Stacked in $100 bills, each 0.14 millimetre thick, the pile would rise to about 500 kilometres. You …
At the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting on 3 March in New Delhi, the four principals reaffirmed their countries’ ‘steadfast commitment to supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is inclusive and resilient’. Held a day …
Bureaucracy is boring. But it also matters. Complex public projects don’t just happen—they demand the dedication of public servants and effective organisational structures. With the nuclear-powered submarines to be acquired under the AUKUS partnership, Australia …
After decades of gradual military build-up by China, territorial disputes with China and Russia, and increasing concern about North Korea’s missile-strike capability, Japan is once again reinventing itself and rapidly moving from the pacifist stance …
Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet is going to be expensive. Not only will the initial production cost run into the tens of billions, but there will be significant ongoing outlays for platform sustainment, operational use and …