Editorial Note: There is no doubt that people are our greatest asset and the key to fully realising a fifth-generation Air Force. We are pleased to introduce a new contributor to The Central Blue - Shaun McGill. In this essay, he explores how the Royal Australian Air Force might attract the talent needed to make [...]
23 September 2018 Chris McInnes explores the role of cognition in warfare and asks whether we understand the types of cognition needed in the future, and what we might be able to learn from other disciplines. On 9 June 1982, the Israel Air Force (IAF) destroyed 87 Syrian military aircraft and 17 out of 19 [...]
19 August 2018 On 23 August 2018, the Sir Richard Williams Foundation is holding a seminar on #jointstrike to discuss the imperative for an independent deterrent. The aim of the seminar is to build a common understanding of the need for an independent joint strike capability to provide Australia with a powerful and potent deterrent [...]
15 Jul 2018 Olsen, John Andreas (ed.) 2018, Routledge Handbook of Air Power, 1st edition, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London; New York. Air power is a big topic and this is a big book. The Routledge Handbook of Air Power features some thirty well-researched, cutting-edge essays written by highly-regarded experts in their particular specialist [...]
08 July 2018 Following a week that saw many Australians observe the centenary of the Battle of Hamel and debate the significance of that action, Alan Stephens invites us to consider our views on the unseen Second World War battles in the sky. Street names at the Australian Defence Force Academy honour notable wartime actions. [...]
10 June 2018 On 23 August, The Sir Richard Williams Foundation is holding a seminar on joint strike to discuss the imperative for an independent deterrent. The aim of the seminar is to build a common understanding of the need for an independent joint strike capability to provide Australia with a powerful and potent deterrent [...]
27 May 2018 In the third post of a four-part series on air power and strategy, Peter Layton reminds us that strategy is just an idea. Part One in the series, examining the need to define ends, can be found here and Part Two, considering the competition, can be found here. In earlier posts (here [...]
23 May 2018 Scharre, Paul 2018, Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, 1st edition, W. W. Norton & Company, New York Well-researched and written in clear and lucid prose, Army of None presents a wealth of intriguing detail on the past, present and future of war. The technology intensive subject of [...]
13 May 2018 In the first post of a four-part series on air power and strategy, Peter Layton discusses the importance of defining objectives to strategy-making. Strategy and air power confuse many, both in and out of uniform. Over four posts we’ll discuss how the two relate; mainly trying to make clear the concept [...]
In this post, Alan Stephens argues the case for military professionals to read history - not for 'lessons' or details, but to appreciate the influence and importance of context in planning and making decisions. According to Stephens, "people who do not read good history cannot achieve professional mastery in the full meaning of the term." [...]
