On 4 February, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that the US Navy had developed a new anti-ship missile (ASM)—the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6). But that ‘new’ missile isn’t as new as it might …
Albert Palazzo’s paper Forging Australian Land Power: A Primer and his response to John Blaxland’s critique are of real value in our current hypoxic policy world. Perhaps unintentionally, their contributions highlight three re-occurring themes in …
In the wake of North Korea’s nuclear test in January and its satellite launch in February, South Korea has shown a new level of interest in the topic of ballistic missile defence. Seoul officials are …
‘The United States, China, and maybe the European Union, if Great Britain stays within it’ will lead tomorrow’s world; in fact, continued EU membership is the only way for the United Kingdom to secure ‘a …
The debate on SEA 5000 to date has focused on capability to engage in high intensity naval combat, likely as part of a taskforce, with some capacity to lob a few land attack missiles into …
Sea State The second meeting of the India–US Joint Working Group of Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation concluded in New Delhi on 18 February, after three days of talks. The meeting is the second of three …
George C. Scott played the somewhat crazy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Buck Turgidson, in the dark cold war comedy Dr Strangelove. One of Buck’s great lines was ‘what’s cooking on the …
This interview with military strategist David Kilcullen launches The Strategist Six, a new feature that will provide a glimpse into the thinking of prominent academics, reporters, government officials, military officers and discipline leaders from around …
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less’. It would appear that there’s no dearth of Humpty Dumpties …
Stopping radicalisation and disrupting plots are appropriately the focus of the majority of Australia’s counterterrorism efforts. But there are other avenues to undermine the terrorist business model that are lower profile but have the potential …
Global attention was galvanised this month when World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Dr Margaret Chan declared the Zika virus to be a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO has expressed concern about the …
Minder (noun): Body guard; staffer working for a politician/minister. Derived from London West End slang for a muscle man who protects a criminal or shady operator. Minding (verb): The act of working as a Minder, …
Welcome back to ASPI suggests, your recommended weekly dose of defence and security reading, listening and viewing, where we won’t even attempt to unpack Woody Island and Sunnylands until the analytical smorgasbord dwarfs the news …
One of the most bizarre arguments made by the people who support Britain’s exit from the European Union is the notion that a self-exiled UK will find a new global relevance, and indeed leadership role, …
In recent times we’ve seen young Australians commit acts of violent extremism on home soil. The Turnbull government recently announced it was introducing further measures give educators and parents more help to support school-aged youth …
One of the key themes that resonated with many of those present at last week’s Australian Defence Magazine Congress was the evolving partnership between Defence and industry, and industry’s role as a fundamental input into …
On Tuesday, the Defence Minister re-committed to releasing a White Paper in the first quarter of this year. That means it’ll be fewer than 51 sleeps before we see the document. More importantly, it means …
The Beat HSBC sued for money-laundering British banking giant HSBC is being sued by the families of four Americans killed by Mexican drug cartels for allowing the gangs to launder billions of dollars which allegedly …
Credible reports are circulating that China has deployed an HQ-9 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system and an associated targeting radar to Woody Island, part of the Paracel group of islands in the South China Sea. Woody …
At the turn of the millennium, the smart phone didn’t exist, Google wasn’t yet the dominant choice for navigating the internet and the majority of investment in cutting edge computing capability was driven by governments. …