Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy (NDS) marks a quiet but consequential shift from its predecessor, fundamentally redefining the political objective underpinning the Australian Defence Force’s five key tasks. While the 2024 strategy focused on maintaining …
Establishment of the Australian government’s proposed Advanced Capability Investment Fund (ACIF) is an overdue step. Up to A$500 million in public capital, boosted to at least A$1 billion with private investment, will be spent to …
Revisions to defence export controls adopted by Japan’s cabinet today demonstrate the urgency with which Tokyo is shaking up its post-war defence settings in the face of increasing international insecurity. This is good news for …
We may be living in an increasingly dangerous world, as Australia’s 16 April National Defence Strategy reaffirmed, but at least there is now more rigour and regularity in designing defence policy. In releasing the first …
If Australia had wanted early warning of disruption in the Strait of Hormuz that began last month, it needed only to have monitored maritime war-risk insurance premiums. These rose sharply well before physical interruption of …
So you thought that watching defence spending was complicated. Well, Australia’s new National Defence Strategy displays three different ways of counting it. There’s the Defence portfolio’s appropriation from government; the appropriation from government plus Defence’s …
The most consequential line in Washington’s new Cyber Strategy isn’t about defence. Released in early March 2026, the document makes clear that the United States intends to use offensive cyber operations as a routine instrument …
We no longer face a knowledge problem on critical minerals. We face a coordination failure, and the cost of that failure is already visible in delayed investment and persistent dependence. Governments understand the risk. Industry …
With the war in Iran, Australia is facing a second major external shock this decade. The lived experience of Covid-19 and the disruptions already evident from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have highlighted …
Australia’s updated defence capability spending plan has put strong emphasis on uncrewed air and underwater systems, strike weapons, and defence against advanced air and missile attack. The government released its spending plan, known as the …
Ensuring greater security self-reliance for Australia and being a more useful security partner lead to the same place. By being judicious about which military capabilities it invests in, Australia can ensure its own security, achieve …
The Australian Defence Force reserves are increasingly weighted in the country’s south and east, despite Defence strategy prioritising the north. It’s much the same pattern seen in the distribution of active ADF personnel, though for …
Defence Minister Richard Marles today announced the government’s new National Defence Strategy (NDS) and its accompanying spending outline, the Integrated Investment Program (IIP). This is Australia’s second NDS. The first, released in 2024, outlined Australia’s …
Today’s National Defence Strategy, announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, correctly reasserts that Australia’s security interests lie in becoming more self-reliant, which requires an enhancement of our own national capabilities in …
Northern Territory growth has stabilised, but its foundations remain weak, and that should concern anyone serious about Australia’s defence posture. The Darwin Major Business Group’s latest Over the Horizon 2026 report shows a territory economy …
Iranian research years ago pointed to development of the strike drones that have been lighting up air defences across the Gulf and, by threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, holding the world economy hostage. …
In the span of five years, first-person view (FPV) racing drones have graduated from local parks to the front lines of modern warfare. The Ukraine–Russia conflict has irrevocably demonstrated the democratisation of air power. Cheap, …
Giving blanket access to US military aircraft through Indonesian airspace, as proposed in a classified US defence document reported by international media this week, risks compromising the country’s sovereignty and national security. Indonesia should not …
For decades, notions of laser weapons have been the stuff of science fiction. Now they are becoming military reality, as directed-energy weapons, including high-energy lasers and high-power microwave weapons, open new approaches to counter swarms …
With wars in Europe and the Middle East, and Chinese naval task groups operating closer to Australia, the familiar line that ‘this is our most challenging strategic environment since World War II’ is starting to …
