Flight path It looks as if Russia isn’t just flexing its muscles in Eastern Europe. Last Wednesday, Japan reported Russian incursions in its northern skies. Along with Chinese combat aircraft in its southern airspace, this …
More evidence of Tony Abbott’s policy stance on the next generation of Australian submarines was revealed with the release of the RAND report into Australia’s Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise. By ignoring an Australian build for …
It’s good to see that the ‘Option J’ paper Ben Schreer and I wrote is generating responses. Hugh White and Sam Bateman raise concerns about a closer relationship with Japan: both of them argue that …
Andrew Davies and Benjamin Schreer argue in their recent ASPI report on Australia’s submarine choice that there is a stronger strategic case for acquiring Japanese submarines than European ones (Option J). But the opposite could …
In their paper supporting Option J, Andrew Davies and Benjamin Schreer don’t just rebut some of the strategic arguments raised against it, but also provide their own argument on strategic grounds in its favour. Their …
(Or how I learned to stop worrying about naval power and to love the corvette.) Naval capability decisions start with maritime strategy. So I think we should get one. That’s deliberately provocative, but I struggle …
There’s a lot of talk about submarines again this week thanks to the SubSummit conference in Adelaide. Perhaps not surprisingly given the venue, much of the focus was on the local versus offshore build aspect. …
With ASPI’s Future Surface Fleet conference now less than a week away, Sea State this week will continue last week’s examination of design options for the future frigate fleet. We’ll also take a look at …
Submarines continue to make headlines across Australia, with the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey encouraging Australia to make a quick decision about a replacement for the Collins-class submarines. In …
It was another big week for submarines here in Australia. Early last week the Defence Minister’s office said that the competitive evaluation process for the Collins-class submarine replacement will involve two distinct stages—a request for …
We’ve written a lot about the future submarine project over the years. Last year, Mark Thomson and I surveyed the possible range of acquisition strategies the government could opt to pursue. We made the observation …
There was a fascinating blip on the radar this week—a branch of Chinese local government accidentally let slip that work on China’s second aircraft carrier is underway. Boasts that a local company in Changzhou, Jiangshu …











