Late last month, Australia’s leading scientists, researchers and businesspeople came together for the inaugural Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research Summit (ADSTAR), hosted by the Defence Department’s Science and Technology Group. In a demonstration of …
After the cancellation of the Attack-class submarine program in favour of nuclear-powered boats (SSNs), Australia’s new government must urgently consider the $100-billion-plus question of what a sovereign capability should look like. Assuming that ‘sovereign’ means …
China has reacted strongly to Australia’s intention to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS agreement with the US and UK. Since the announcement in September, Beijing has taken a stance of lofty …
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 …
Sea state General Dynamics Electric Boat was recently awarded a US$300 million ($446 million) contract modification to ramp up production of the Columbia class of next-generation US nuclear submarines. With the lead boat scheduled for …
Mariupol is Russia’s theory of victory for its invasion of Ukraine. This strategy aims to break Ukrainian resistance by turning Ukraine’s cities into charnel houses through artillery bombardment and forcing the survivors into submission through a …
The West is waging a hot economic war against Russia. That Rubicon has been crossed. The West is fighting this war by arming Ukraine and imposing an economic blockade that explicitly aims to eliminate Vladimir …
One of my colleagues told me on Monday morning that we were going to get a ‘semi-announcement’ on Australia’s submarine basing that day. The government has been making quite a lot of semi-announcements lately about …
Nuclear weapons have, since their inception, been a paradox: the mightiest of weapons that we dare never use. The nature of this paradox was best exemplified by the Cold War doctrine of MAD—mutual assured destruction. …
Forty-three years ago, Iranians took to the streets to celebrate the end of the shah’s regime and welcome the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who, in exile, had become the shah’s leading critic. Iranians opposed …
The horrific Russian attack on Ukraine should be a wake-up call for the elites of NATO’s Central European members and the rest of the alliance. Without excusing Russia’s aggression, we must admit that decades of …
The eighth round of negotiations to resurrect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), which resumed in Vienna in mid-February, is looking likely to be the decisive one. It …
