If we are already swimming in sensors and drowning in data, what can we do to get our heads above water? Wing Commander Paul Hay argues that the key is not a new sensor, platform, or system but improving the management and integration of the information we already collect to create an Internet of [...]
The War in the Sand Pit conference was held 12-13 May 17 to examine perspectives and lessons from Australia’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2014. Hosted by Military History and Heritage Victoria and Australian National University’s Strategic & Defence Studies Centre, the conference addressed a range of perspectives from speakers with [...]
General Robert Scales argues that it’s time for the West’s armies to face-up to the full implications of the irresistible rise of robots in warfare “In war, boots on the ground are necessary, but we can do much more to reduce the body count” Robert Scales, 8 March 2017 The Past Retired US Army [...]
Like the RAAF, the Royal Norwegian Air Force is currently undertaking a major modernisation program, including the acquisition of F-35As, P-8s, and the Joint Strike Missile. While the two air forces’ geopolitical circumstances are very different, the similarities of their organisational approach to managing change are noteworthy Dr Robbin Laird recently interviewed the RNoAF’s [...]
This week marks the 74th anniversary of the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, arguably the most significant action fought by Australians during World War II Between December 1941 and April 1942, Imperial Japanese forces shocked Australians with their victories over the United States at Pearl Harbor and in the Philippines; and over the British [...]
On 27 February, Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Leo Davies officially launched ‘Air Force Strategy 2017-2027’, a vision for the Royal Australian Air Force to transition and become a fifth-generation Air Force. The Strategy, aimed primarily at Air Force decision-makers, outlines five strategic vectors that will guide Air Force’s trajectory over the next [...]
If, as the eminent strategist and military historian Edward Luttwak has argued, the people in our armed services define themselves through their ships, aeroplanes and tanks - a phenomenon he describes as “platformitis” - then the Australian Defence Force’s dominant culture is both obvious and near-impossible to change. As thing stand, for the next [...]
Economics is almost always a factor in warfare; in the case of advanced air power it is an imperative. 100 million-dollar baby: An RAAF F-35A In the one hundred years since air power was first applied systematically, only a small number of countries have been able to construct balanced, high-quality air [...]
This year's opening article revisits the F-35B debate sparked by Jenna Higgins' post from December 2016. Steve George's response addresses the key issues. Back in November 2014, I wrote a piece for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on potential F-35B operations from the new RAN LHDs (LHD and F-35B: The Debate Opens Up). It received a mention [...]
The term ‘Red Team’ has made the transition from its origins within military war-gaming to the lexicon of both government and business. What is less well understood is what a red team is, what it does and does not do, and how and why red-teaming can be helpful to an organisation. In Red Team: [...]