Sea state China has launched its third aircraft carrier, Fujian, at the Jiangnan shipyard of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation in Shanghai. This is China’s first flat-deck carrier and uses electromagnetic catapults to launch its aircraft. …
On 26 May a J-16 fighter aircraft from the Peoples Liberational Army Air Force conducted an ‘unsafe’ interception of an Australian P-8A Poseidon routine surveillance flight above international waters. The Chinese fighter pulled alongside releasing …
The British Army’s main effort is now mobilisation to deter Russian aggression, and it must accept ‘ruthless prioritisation’ to this end, General Sir Patrick Sanders has said. Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute’s Land …
The era of cheap oil and gas is over. Russia’s war in Ukraine—or, more specifically, Europe’s ambitious effort to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels at a time when international supplies are already tight—is driving …
Media coverage of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent visit to the South Pacific was effectively silenced, highlighting the fragility of a free media in the region. Most journalists, especially those working for international outlets, …
A Chinese Communist Party information operation is using environmental, political and health concerns to undermine efforts to diversify global rare-earth supply chains. The operation is focused on audiences in the United States, Australia and Malaysia. …
By embarking on a ‘peace mission’ to Russia and Ukraine after attending the G7 summit in Germany, Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, will be following in few footsteps and with, at best, no greater likelihood of …
Foreign Minister Penny Wong is visiting Vietnam and Malaysia this week on her second trip to Southeast Asia since taking office in late May. In opposition, Labor committed to deepening Australia’s engagement with Southeast Asia, …
The political ructions unleashed in the United States by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision establishing a federal right to abortion, have been immediate and furious. But less …
Australia has taken another step towards becoming a serious contributor to the global space economy with the launch of a NASA sounding rocket from the Arnhem Space Center at Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory. Australia’s …
In our previous post, we considered the likelihood of the US providing Australia with Virginia-class submarines this decade. Doing so would require the US Navy to give up two of its nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) …
In March, not long after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, claims from the Kremlin of a US-funded bioweapon program in Ukraine flooded global media. Those reports were amplified by China and picked up by conservative …
During the recent visit by Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles to Japan, the nations vowed to strengthen the interoperability of their armed forces amid shared concerns over Chinese assertiveness. The minister’s visit came shortly after the Shangri-La …
There’s a paradox at the heart of Australia’s security cooperation with its Pacific island neighbours. On the one hand, the Pacific will always be an area of great strategic significance for Australia, meaning that Australia …
In this episode, Strategist executive editor Brendan Nicholson speaks to Kao Kim Hourn, Cambodia’s minister delegate attached to the prime minister for foreign affairs and ASEAN. They discuss ASEAN’s stance on the conflict in Ukraine, …
Australia is to refashion defence policy with a force posture review, not a white paper. The policy the Labor Party took to the federal election on 21 May was for a ‘Defence Force Posture Review’. …
The hottest topic in Australia’s defence community right now is how to develop the Royal Australian Navy’s submarine capability. The decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) under the AUKUS partnership and cancel the acquisition of …
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue met in Tokyo late last month to affirm the continued cooperation between the United States, Australia, Japan and India to promote regional stability in the Indo-Pacific. But the leaders left the …
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 8 June motion to censure Iran for not disclosing three decades-old former secret nuclear sites, and Tehran’s response of removing multiple IAEA cameras that monitor Iranian uranium enrichment levels, doesn’t …
The destruction of hundreds of Russian tanks in Ukraine does not signal the end of the need for armoured vehicles in future warfare, says one of the Australian Army’s key capability specialists. Brigadier Ian Langford, …