An army is made of its people

The 100th anniversary of the Battle of Hamel has been remembered as the first time American troops fought under an Australian general and a textbook study of how to plan an attack. However the individual stories from the battle underline the fact that an army is only as good as its people.

Eyes ‘wired’ open: preparing for chemical and biological threats

Is Australia preparing for the threat of chemical weapons, as used by Vladimir Putin’s Russia against dissidents in Britain, the Syrian regime against civilians and threatened by ISIS and other terrorist groups?

Assessing the submarine threat to Australia

Is the Commonwealth’s purchase of 9 anti-submarine frigates to protect Australian waters from foreign submarines or to offer support to our allies against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea?

The hard science behind surviving a zombie attack

What would you do in a zombie apocalypse? Build a defensive ring or run as fast as you can? Disaster modelling could help you survive a killer zombie outbreak in Australia and also helps planning for more realistic scenarios.

Big boys’ rules

Autonomy from the restraint of regimentation in part explains the propensity for scandal to routinely afflict SASR. That it mostly goes unpublished and unpunished is down to much the same reason.

The special forces controversy raises questions about strategy

Cycling some of our most talented and motivated people through an endless series of deployments, with no clear goal beyond continuing to do them, cannot be sustained.

Don’t rush to judge our special forces

Allegations of serious misconduct against Australia’s special forces should be handled with greater consideration for the reputation of soldiers who have done no wrong.

Australia needs better disaster management and risk reduction education

While there have been some notable moves to improve management of national resilience issues, non-natural hazards pose a range of challenges that need to be factored into current thinking and practice.

Ethical limits fracture as Chinese espionage intensifies

China’s espionage capability is now so extensive it’s hard to imagine its limits and Western companies and governments are becoming more willing participants.

This is not a drill: A cyberthreat reality check

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to find a security expert who doesn’t think that a major cyber-attack on Australia with potentially devastating consequences is inevitable at some point in the future.

Bringing to light what goes on in the shadows

Allegations of appalling behaviour by a small number of Australian special forces soldiers accused of killing unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan must be properly investigated but also raise questions about the overuse of special forces compared to infantry personnel.

Building a ‘brilliant’ Australian Defence Force

The potential applications of artificial intelligence in the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ will inevitably have important implications for the future of defence.