Homes for heroes

The Australian Defence Force needs bold, creative initiatives to attract and keep enough personnel to reach expansion targets, and making it easier for young service people to buy their own home could offer a major attraction.

Fight for the future

The concept of ‘minimum viable capability’ is critical to shifting Australia’s thinking on how to get cutting edge technologies into the hands of military personnel fast enough to give them an advantage on the battlefield.

Recruiting the Pacific

Australia’s defence force needs more new recruits, so widening the net to our Pacific allies and neighbours could solve several problems at once.

Lab rats

The penetration of the Canadian government’s National Microbiology Lab by two Chinese agents underlines the importance of Australian governments and universities guarding against Chinese espionage.

The fate of Russia’s navy does not invalidate ours

Ukraine’s sinking of several Russian warships is an impressive achievement, but is part of a long tradition of asymmetric naval warfare and does not render surface combatants obsolete.

Plan B for President Z

It seems unthinkable, but the re-election of Donald Trump to the American presidency remains a real possibility, with calamitous implications not only for the United States and western Liberal democracy but Australia’s defence plans.

Sabotage down under

The Western world is under constant attack from Russian, Chinese, Iranian and North Korean hackers, spies and saboteurs, and Australia is not immune from foreign intrusion.

Ukraine at the crossroads

Divided Americans and apathetic Europeans must double down on military, economic and political support for Ukraine or risk the spectre of a resurgent Vladimir Putin gloating in victory.

Ships still have a place at sea

Despite the growing lethality of anti-ship missiles and hunter-killer submarines, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, the head of Australia’s Navy, firmly believes that surface sea power still has a major role to play in modern conflicts.

Is bigger big enough?

The Federal Government’s plan to expand Australian naval power is welcome, although the review tacitly accepts that a lack of manpower is as big a problem as a lack of modern ships and missile firepower.

Navy 2.0

The Federal government has unveiled its plan to revamp the Australian Navy, but given the struggles of recent ship procurement projects, will it solve our current problems – or just create new ones?

Final voyage

The 60th anniversary of the loss of HMAS Voyager after a collision with the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne prompts us to remember the 82 brave men who lost their lives in peacetime as they trained to defend their country.