The Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant review has laid out plans for the Royal Australian Navy to grow larger, with more firepower in the coming decade to ensure that it can meet the challenges highlighted in the …
The navy is under-gunned for the strategic circumstances Australia faces. For years, commentators have criticised its existing and planned platforms for possessing too few missile cells. Many of them have suggested that the best remedy …
In a recent article for The Strategist I painted a depressing picture of the UK’s submarine capability—a force undercapitalised, with inadequate facilities, short of personnel and unable to get its nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) to …
Britain’s Royal Navy has advertised for a suitably experienced individual to fill the role of its director of submarines, a rear admiral who acts as the senior, professional head of its submarine arm. The position …
Australia faces a deteriorating geostrategic environment, and the recent defence strategic review has found that the military’s force structure is not fit for purpose. In line with the review’s recommendations, the government has adopted the …
Senior officials in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom continue to sing the praises of the AUKUS agreement. The likely passage of the US National Defense Authorization Act and approval of billions of …
Australia is often accused of ‘sea blindness’ and a lack of appreciation of the need for a strong navy to protect our vital maritime trade routes. It was reassuring that last week’s biennial Indo-Pacific exposition …
As a country ‘girt by sea’, Australia must enunciate a clear maritime strategy that recognises the scale of its maritime territory and responsibilities, its dependence on trade for its prosperity and the increasing value of …
The September 2021 announcement of Australia’s transition to nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) under the AUKUS program indicated that ‘at least eight’ would be acquired. More recently, the rhetoric has firmed up to eight, with the …
Christopher Pyne remembers well his dismay at the closure of the car industry in South Australia and his fear that it would have a serious impact on the nation’s skills base. ‘I thought to myself, …
The possible outcome of the review of the Royal Australian Navy’s surface combatant fleet has generated a fair amount of public commentary, some of which has focused much too closely on specific solutions. In particular, …
British media reports indicate that the UK Ministry of Defence intends to sign a contract with BAE Systems for the ‘detailed design and long lead items’ of a new class of submarine. I wonder what …