Rod Lyon’s thought-provoking article in The Strategist concludes with a sobering choice for Australian defence planners considering a post–San Francisco world without US extended nuclear deterrence, and suggests two basic choices for Australia, Japan and …
As Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defence Minister Marise Payne get ready for next week’s annual Australia–US Ministerial Consultations with their US counterparts, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, their biggest …
No one yet knows what deals US President Donald Trump may have struck with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their private two-hour meeting in Helsinki. But it is already clear that Trump’s self-congratulations for striking …
The execution of Shoko Asahara, the former leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is a reminder of one of the most unsettling chapters in modern terrorism. Asahara, who was hanged last Friday alongside …
Is Donald Trump’s deal with Kim Jong-un towards ‘denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula’ falling off the tracks already? US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang over the weekend certainly suggests that’s the likely …
The 2016 Defence White Paper stated that the nine new future frigates will be ‘optimised for anti-submarine warfare’. According to the Turnbull government, they will be ‘one of the world’s most advanced anti-submarine warfare frigates’. It …
Sea state The Royal Navy’s HMS Montrose shadowed two Russian warships as they traversed the English Channel. The frigate tailed the two Steregushi-class corvettes as they progressed off the Danish and Dutch coasts before slowly …
Last week, the Asia Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation and the Griffith Asia Institute co-hosted a Philippines–Australia Track II dialogue in Manila, focusing on the security dimension of the relationship. It brought together academics, …
The Australian National Audit Office’s public assessments of the health of major Department of Defence projects are invaluable—but the fact that the ANAO isn’t yet reporting on the $80-billion future submarine program or the $35-billion …
Sea state The German Navy frigate FGS Sashen has been damaged in a failed missile launch. During drills off the Norwegian coast, a missile didn’t emerge from the cell in front of the bridge and …
Sea state Australia is set to enhance its submarine capability through sonar upgrades to all six Collins-class boats. The $230 million contract with Thales is part of a bigger $542 million project to upgrade the …
The summit in Singapore between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong‑un finished with photo‑op fanfare and well-meaning handshakes and smiles. However, the Singapore declaration between Trump and Kim gives little confidence that a …
