An Update on the French A330MRTT: October 2023

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10/31/2023

By Pierre Tran

October 31, 2023

Paris – France signed Oct. 6 a contract with Airbus Defence and Space to add a secure, high-speed satellite communications link to the A330 multirole tanker transport, a deal the company sees as plugging MRTT jets into a network of a planned European future combat air system.

“The DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement) awarded Oct. 6 2023 the company Airbus Defence & Space the first stages of work on standard 2 on the A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Phénix of the French air and space force,” the armed forces ministry said in an Oct. 20 statement.

Airbus D&S also signed Oct. 6 a contract for 10 years’ service, with option for two more years, for the MRTT, the company said in an Oct. 23 statement, with the standard 2 communications and maintenance deals worth a total €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion).

Airbus D&S is effectively prime contractor for installing standard 2, which relies on  a Thales onboard satellite link dubbed Melissa, and service for the French MRTT fleet. A company spokesman declined to say how that total amount was split between the two MRTT deals.

The standard 2 communications upgrade is seen as delivering an entry to a planned combat cloud extended network, for the MRTT, a military conversion of the Airbus A330-200 wide-body, twin-engine airliner. “This new standard, which will undergo incremental development, strengthens the capability of the A330 MRTT to evolve in contested environments, while providing greater communications capability with other aircraft and command centers,” the ministry said.

The DGA procurement office and Direction de la Maintenance Aéronautique (DMAé), the aeronautics service unit, also signed Oct. 6 with Rolls-Royce a maintenance contract for up to 20 years for the Trent 700 engine on the MRTT, with the British company delivering its MissionCare service.

Lockheed Bales Out

The Airbus D&S Oct. 23 statement on the MRTT deals coincided with Lockheed Martin’s announcement the American company was pulling out of the U.S. air force competition for an air tanker.

Lockheed had partnered with Airbus for the European company to pitch its A330 MRTT, and that departure left Airbus flying solo against Boeing, its archrival in the U.S. tender for some 75 inflight refuelling jets, worth an estimated $12 billion.

France attaches strategic importance to its MRTT fleet, which provides inflight refuelling for the Rafale, boosting the range of the fighter which carries the airborne deterrent, the ASMP/A nuclear-tipped missile.

The Phénix MRTT replaced the U.S.-built French air force fleet of 11 C-135FR and three KC-135RG, which dated back to the 1960s, flown by the Brétagne squadron. Those French air tankers supported the Mirage IV and 2000N, and more recently Rafale, armed with nuclear weapons. Phénix also replaced three A310 and two A340 jets flown by the Esterel transport squadron.

The then U.S. president, John F. Kennedy, authorized the sale of the C-135 when his French counterpart, Charles de Gaulle, was building an independent nuclear strike, said an analyst at the Institut Français d’Analyse Stratégique, a think tank.

The first phase in the standard 2 upgrade includes equipping the MRTT with a defensive aids sub-system, the ministry said, without giving details. The Airbus D&S spokesman declined to comment.

The French authorities see selection of the defensive sub-system as highly sensitive and has that wrapped up in strict confidentiality. U.S. and Israeli companies lead the market for defensive sub-systems. The Nato multinational fleet of nine MRTT, backed by six member states, is fitted with a direct infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system from Elbit Systems, dubbed J-Multi Spectral Infrared Countermeasure or J-Music. The German Air Force has also equipped its A400M airlifters with J-Music kit. The system aims to protect aircraft from ground-based, heat-seeking missiles.

Meanwhile, talks are being held for selecting subcontractors for service support, an industry source said. Companies such as Collins Aerospace and Sabena Technics are active in the French service market.

Maintenance, repair and overhaul may be low key but that business offers a steady flow of income, while requiring technical skill. The risk and reward of service contracts could be seen with the French fleet of C-130 Hercules airlifters, which in the past suffered from low availability, stemming from what the then head of air force special operations command said was due to industrial problems. A Portuguese company, Ogma, previously provided service for the French C-130 fleet.

The separate and complementary service contracts for the MRTT airframe and aero-engines reflect the “vertical” approach of the DMAé, the ministry said, and the commitment of work for at least 10 years gave reassurance for the companies to invest €30 million in infrastructure around Istres air base.

Changes The Game

Standard 2 is a “game changer,” the analyst said, as the MRTT aircraft adds “multimission” to its support for the French strategic airborne force and flying logistical support for overseas deployment.

The defense ministry gave no details on the value of the standard 2 contract. The DGA was not available for comment.

A French Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport Phénix flies in formation with Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter jets during a ground and air display over Grand Bara, Djibouti, Jan. 15, 2022. As part of a visit by the Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defense, the dynamic presentation demonstrated the French Forces in Djibouti’s operational capabilities, and included participation by Djiboutian and U.S. armed forces to illustrate regular cooperation between the nations. U.S. and French forces regularly exchange expertise, ideas and tactics to become a more integrated combined force with the ability to respond to crises or threats in East Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Blake Wiles)

The satellite communications link will be retrofitted to the 12-strong MRTT fleet flown by the French air force from Istres air base, close to Marseille, southern France. A further three MRTT jets are due to join the fleet by 2030, with the 15th unit to be the prototype for standard two, due for certification in 2028.

Standard 2 aims to plug MRTT into the planned combat cloud, one of the critical technology pillars being developed for the European future combat air system. “With this new capability of the aircraft, we are preparing the future by transforming the MRTT into an in-flight communications node, as the first building block of the Multi Role Tanker Transport of tomorrow, embedded in the Future Combat Air System (FCAS),” Jean-Brice Dumont, head of military air systems at Airbus Defence & Space said in the Oct. 23 statement.

Connectivity through telecommunications is seen as a major capability, and the MRTT will be fitted with a satellite communications link, dubbed Melissa, allowing the tanker-transport to hook up to the French Syracuse IV military satellite network.

The Melissa satcom will allow the MRTT to be connected at all time, beating enemies’ jamming attempts and extreme weather, the company said. The MRTT standard 2 will deliver “high-bandwidth communication, sovereign and secure,” to boost links with the airborne deterrence, the ministry said. MRTT will hold a “central position in aeronautical connectivity,” providing a communications node between C2 command and control and the aeronautic network. The Airbus team in France will be doubled to support the MRTT activities, the company said.

Melissa Boosts Links

On the Melissa communications link, Thales said Feb. 8 2022 the company would deliver the onboard satellite workstation in 2025, offering high bandwidth, high availability, and high performance on large military or government aircraft such as MRTT, A400M, and Awacs spy planes.

The contract for a military system linked to Syracuse IV satellite is for 17 years and is based on a civilian system, which has shown reliability with more than 30,000 flight hours, the company said. “This military version is specially designed to maintain connectivity with commanders in a jammed environment or in very poor flight or weather conditions,” the company said. The link can work with “the sovereign Syracuse IV satellites and is also compatible with other allied military or commercial satellites.”

The present French MRTT fleet uses Link 16 for communications with Nato allied aircraft and commanders.

The air force flies 12 MRTT tanker transports, and three more aircraft are due to be delivered by 2030 under the 2024-2030 military budget law, adopted in July. Development work on standard 2 will lead to the qualification of the prototype, the ministry said, with the remaining fleet retrofitted as they undergo routine service over the 10 years contracted with Airbus DS.

The first MRTT to be converted to standard 2 will be number 15 for the French air force, with the conversion to be made at the Airbus Getafe plant, in Spain, Airbus DS said. That MRTT is due to be qualified in 2028. The other MRTTs will be retrofitted at Istres air base.

The MRTT, which entered service in 2018, also serves as a flying hospital for medical evacuation missions.

In the air force’s Pegase 23 mission, the service flew five A330 MRTT, along with 10 Rafale and four A400M airlifters to the Pacific region in 72 hours. The service plans for the next air deployment to consist of a full 20-strong Rafale squadron, supported by 10 A330 MRTT tankers, reaching the Pacific in 48 hours.

Leveraging a Digital Aircraft to Shape a Sustainment Enterprise Extending to the Tactical Edge

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Leveraging a Digital Aircraft to Shape a Sustainment Enterprise Extending to the Tactical Edge
10/30/2023

By Robbin Laird

I have focused in a series of interviews with Pierre Garant on how to leverage a new digital aircraft, the CH-53K, to shape an innovative new approach to sustainment.

Clearly, technology is not enough. Organizational change enabled by technology is required and to do so in terms of new partnerships among industry, the government and the service operating the aircraft.

In this interview, I discussed the way ahead with Pierre drawing on his knowledge gained during his extensive career having worked logistics and sustainment from his unique perspective gained by working in the USMC, the government and industry. I was discussing the approach with Garant in a role of a future DOD sustainment planner and operator.

In that perspective, I sketched out what could be the future of end-to-end sustainment built around the inherent capabilities of a new digital aircraft.

The way I look at it, the digital backbone on the CH-53K has enabled the digital twin to drive the design and evolution process. As experience is gained from the use of the aircraft and data flows back to the digital twin, this will allow for configuration control and adaptation.

In addition, with the rapid arrival of advancing technologies, such as 3-D printing, which the Marines are clearly working with, distributed operations can be combined with digital manufacturing driven by the digital twin as well.

This means that the digital backbone on the aircraft allows not only for predictive maintenance and the organizational possibility of greater accuracy in having parts moved closer to areas of the operating force of the particular aircraft, but that 3-D printing can allow for the capability to provide for enhanced sustainability in the field and in the areas of operation.

Garant highlighted the need to get beyond legacy thinking about sustainment to achieve such an approach.

“Condition-based maintenance opens a significant opportunity to move beyond legacy approaches to logistical support. We need to shape a forward leaning approach rather than taking the new aircraft and fitting into a legacy box for how we have done logistical support in the past.

“We need to go beyond how the digital twin and the digital process allows us to build the aircraft differently to how we can recraft the sustainment enterprise to support the warfighter and their needs at the tactical edge.

“It is about making the warfighter in combat having greater readiness of aircraft at the point of operation, not just using the old approach of moving parts to inventory positions and then out to the field. It is early days for 3D printing, but the Marines are moving out in this area.

“I think your emphasis on linking the entire digital change from production and the digital twin to the use of digital or additive manufacturing in the field, which what 3D printing provides, is part of a crucial shift in sustainment management or the sustainment enterprise.”

I argued that working the relationship between how predictive maintenance could allow surge support by moving supplies closer to the warfighter based on anticipated use needs and determining what 3D printing could supply at the key point of need is a work in progress. And as the user community determines which method – build and deliver or build at the point of operation is best – the desired mix could be shaped.

The point is that the needs of the warfighter at the tactical edge can drive through the digital chain how the sustainment structure functions, and not the legacy approach of sequential decisions by authorities at each stage of a highly bureaucratized process of hand-offs in the logistics chain.

Garant underscored that when actual production of an aircraft ends, it is all about sustainment and having parts to support operations. We need a new approach to the sustainment enterprise which the technology of a digital aircraft unlocks.

In my view, it is never just about technology. After all, we had radar at Pearl Harbor, and we know how that turned out.

For the additonal interviews, see the following:

The Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) Foundation for the CH-53K Sustainment Approach: Shaping a New Way Ahead for Next Generation Digital Aircraft

Digital Maintenance in the Shift to Distributed Maritime Operations

 

Placing the Re-configured Maintenance and Sustainment Enterprise into Strategic Context

CH-53K King Stallions at WTI-1-24

 

 

 

 

 

Marines Practice FARP Support

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Marines Practice FARP Support
10/27/2023

U.S. Marines assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One assemble an advanced aviation forward area refueling system for UH-1Y Venom helicopters in support of Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 1-24, at Landing Zone Bull, California, Oct. 13, 2023.

WTI is an advanced, graduate-level course for selected pilots and enlisted aircrew providing standardized advanced tactical training and assists in developing and employing aviation weapons and tactics.

10.13.2023

Video by Lance Cpl. Emily Hazelbaker

Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1

Triton in the Reshaping of the Australian ISR-T Enterprise

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Triton in the Reshaping of the Australian ISR-T Enterprise
10/25/2023

During my recent visit to Australia in support of the 27 September Sir Richard Williams Foundation, I had a chance to meet again with Wing Commander Keirin Joyce and to discuss the impact of the Triton on the ISR-T enterprise in Australia.

Wing Commander Keirin Joyce has dealt with uncrewed systems within the combat force both as an Army and now as an Air Force officer.

Currently, he is Program Chief Engineer RPAS (MQ-4C Triton) at Royal Australian Air Force.

There has been recent criticism of Triton as being expensive and not part of the new generation of uncrewed systems, and therefore not really central to the way ahead set out in this year’s Defence Strategic Review. Joyce has extensive experience with a wide-range of UAVs and uncrewed systems and certainly agrees that Triton is not an example of the next generation attributable autonomous systems.

It is, after all, based on iterations of a 25-year-old GlobalHawk design.

But, it is the only aircraft that can do what it does and is a key element in the reshaping of the ISR-T enterprise in Australia, a reshaping which is considered central in the DSR. The Triton air system is the tip of the spear so to speak of the evolving ISR-T enterprise.

If one looks simply at the UAV, one misses the extensive ground systems being built to use its data along with the other key assets in the ISR-T emprise, such as P-8. The RAAF has been leading an effort for the ADF on building a new generation ground processing capability for the ADF to manage the enterprise data needed for the defense of Australia and empowering the multi-domain strike enterprise.

The recent Williams Foundation Seminar was entitled: “The Enterprise Requirements of an Australian Multi-Domain Strike Capability.”  The focus of much of the seminar was on building new multi-domain strike capabilities, but the enterprise to do so requires advanced ISR-T capabilities.

The RAAF and the ADF have been working this challenge for more than a decade and Triton is embedded within the solution set. This lays down the foundation for further evolution in the years ahead for further advances in the ISR-T foundation to the multi-domain strike enterprise.

Wing Commander Joyce emphasized the importance and its contribution to the evolving ISR-T enterprise.

“It largely operates outside of the adversary’s weapons engagement zone and operates at a height where it can see deep into our areas of operation. Of course, if it is targeted, the range of our networked sensors will warn it and it has a jet engine to work an escape path.”

But the sensors on Triton are unique and multi-faceted and as such will provide unique capabilities for the ADF. He noted that if you contrast with the P-8 which flies low and is focused on ASW, the Triton is operating at much higher altitudes with an ability to see over much greater distances.

I pointed out that one of the challenges for any ISR-T system working the maritime domain is the need to find the wheat from the chaff, or to find real threats within the range of ships operating throughout an area of operation. Triton does have AIS and other sensors to add in this critical target discrimination problem.

Wing Commander Joyce added that “Triton will provide us with a level and amount of data we have never had before. And that interaction with our processing systems will allow us to grow our abilities in the ISR-T systems and prepare us for the inclusion of new systems in the future as well.”

I pointed out that the Australian debate and discussion about Triton had totally ignored the impact of the NATO AGS system and its role in the Ukraine war. When I worked for Secretary Wynne when he was the defence acquisition director, he recommended that NATO eschew the manned aircraft option and buy a UAV for its Air-Ground Surveillance system. Eventually, this happened and four variants of the Global Hawk were purchased and now operate out of Sigonella Air Base in Italy.

Wing Commander Joyce thought that was an important point to raise. He noted that “the NATO AGS system is operating in Europe at various altitudes and hoovering up ISR-T information useful in the conflict and beyond. Gaining information on the signature of adversary weapons and platforms is a key part of such a mission.”

Without doubt new generation maritime, land and air autonomous systems are coming. It is just that a future capability empowers no force: you have to fight with the force you have.

And Triton will make the ADF a more lethal and survivable force in the near to mid-term.

Shaping a Way Ahead for Remotely Piloted Air Systems: The Perspective of Wing Commander Keirin Joyce

The Surveillance and Response Group Working to Enhance the Situational Awareness and Decision Making Capabilities of the RAAF

Standing up the P-8/Triton Maritime Domain Strike Enterprise in Australia: Visiting RAAF Edinburgh

U.S. Marine Corps Valkyrie Completes First Flight

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The Marine Corps XQ-58A Valkyrie, a highly autonomous, low-cost tactical unmanned air vehicle successfully completed its first test flight October 3, 2023, at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The Marine Corps partnered with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), the Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) to facilitate the ongoing research, development, test and evaluation of the Marine Corps XQ-58A Valkyrie.

This joint collaboration was supported by the 40th Flight Test Squadron, 96th Test Wing and the NAWCAD. This flight marks a key milestone in the Marine Corps’ Penetrating Affordable Autonomous Collaborative Killer – Portfolio (PAACK-P) program. Future test flights inform Marine Corps XQ-58A Valkyrie requirements for the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Unmanned Aerial System Expeditionary (MUX) Tactical Aircraft (TACAIR).

“This XQ-58A test flight and the data collected today not only help to inform future requirements for the Marine Corps,” said Scott Bey, a prototyping and experimentation portfolio manager at OUSD(R&E).

“It fuels continued joint innovation and experimentation opportunities and demonstrates the agility that can be achieved through partnership.”

The aircraft performed as expected.

The XQ-58A has a total of six planned test flights with objectives that include evaluating the platform’s ability to support a variety of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions; the effectiveness of autonomous electronic support to crewed platforms; the potential for AI-enabled platforms to augment combat air patrols; and continuing to mature other manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capability objectives.

The Marine Corps received the first of two XQ-58A unmanned aerial systems (UAS) on March 14, 2023, to support platform prototyping and integration efforts for the PAACK-P program.

“The Marine Corps constantly seeks to modernize and enhance its capabilities in a rapidly evolving security environment,” said Lt. Col. Donald Kelly, Headquarters Marine Corps Aviation Cunningham Group and Advanced Development Team. “Testing the XQ-58 Valkyrie determines requirements for a highly autonomous, low-cost tactical UAS that compliments the need for agile, expeditionary and lethal capabilities in support of both the Marine Corps’ stand-in force operations in austere environments and the Joint Force.”

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, FL.

10.03.2023

Video by Master Sgt. Tristan McIntire

The Australian Government’s Asian Balancing Act: How does it Deal with the Chinese Challenge?

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on The Australian Government’s Asian Balancing Act: How does it Deal with the Chinese Challenge?
10/23/2023

By Robbin Laird

If one simply read this year’s Defence Strategic Review, the position of the current Australian government towards China would seem very clear:

“A large-scale conventional and non-conventional military build-up without strategic reassurance is contributing to the most challenging circumstances in our region for decades.

“Combined with rising tensions and reduced warning time for conflict, the risks of military escalation or miscalculation are rising.”

Lest you be confused, that is China they are talking about.

One would have expected a DSR with such language to recraft the ADF and to fund it appropriately. Well half of that is an accurate statement.

A key part of the effort associated with the DSR is expanded engagement with core allies, whether it by means of the AUKUS agreement or new ways of working with Japan or South Korea.

The expanded role of Australian bases and the involvement of both the United States and Japan are clearly being worked.

And the Defence Minister’s visit to Japan is clearly designed to do this as well.

For example, a Defence Connect, October 20, 2023 article underscored:

As part of the visit, the Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister reinforced Japan’s central role as an “indispensable partner” to Australia during his conversations with his Japanese counterpart, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru.

The two ministers officially welcomed the entry into force of the landmark Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement, transforming the bilateral defence cooperation and enhancing the interoperability of forces. The pair also discussed a number of recent milestones in the strategic partnership, including:

First applications of the Reciprocal Access Agreement last month in the mutual deployment exercises of F-35As, including for Exercise Bushido Guardian.

Live firing of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s surface-to-air and surface-to-ship missiles during Exercise Talisman Sabre using Australia’s training ranges.

Australian Defence Force (ADF) participation in Japan-United States exercises, Yama Sakura in November 2023 and Keen Edge in February 2024.

Progress under the JDSC to enhance the scope, objectives, and forms of enhanced operational cooperation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, the Honourable Richard Marles, said, “Our growing strategic alignment contributes to shared security challenges in our region and is key to promoting an open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. This is my third visit to Japan as Deputy Prime Minister, demonstrating the importance I ascribe to the bilateral defence relationship.”

Additionally, the ministers celebrated the first-of-its-kind collaboration between the Australian Department of Defence, Mitsubishi Electric Australia, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation on cutting-edge laser technology to enhance the ADF’s surveillance capability and survivability of defence platforms.

“Japan is an indispensable partner and we have achieved much in 2023, including entry into force of the Reciprocal Access Agreement and lifting the complexity and sophistication of our operational cooperation. I look forward to progressing our shared ambition with my new counterpart Minister Kihara Minoru,” the Deputy Prime Minister added.

And new agreements are being worked between Australia and Japan.

For example, a 20 October 2020, Australian Department of Defence article underscores such an agreement:

Defence and Mitsubishi Electric Australia (MEA) have signed an agreement to develop and transition a cutting-edge laser capability for the Australian Defence Force to enhance surveillance and survivability of defence platforms.

The new capability – being developed by Defence’s Science and Technology Group – is being industrialised in partnership with MEA and Japanese industry Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO). 

This collaboration combines over a decade of Defence Science and Technology Group’s laser technology development with MELCO’s proven ability to commercialise and deliver electro-optic systems for defence applications. 

The agreement will enable Defence and MEA to collaborate and develop capabilities and prototypes using this technology. It will also create opportunities for MEA to access MELCO defence technologies of interest to the Australian Defence Force.

During this week’s Japan-Australia Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Tokyo, Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles and Japanese Minister of Defense, Kihara Minoru celebrated the first of its kind collaboration.

Quotes attributable to the Chief Defence Scientist, Professor Tanya Monro:

“This collaboration with Mitsubishi Electric Australia will enable cutting-edge laser technology developed by Australian defence scientists to be transformed into new technologies that protect our Australian Defence Force personnel.

“This will not only lift Australia’s capability, but deepen our science and technology collaboration with Japan.

“Maintaining a technological edge relies on Australia committing to working with partners on defence science and technology.

“We look forward to collaborating with Mitsubishi Electric Australia to deliver new capability, using technology developed by Defence, which enhances surveillance and survivability of defence platforms.”

One would then expect given this policy thrust which rests in part upon significant strategic redesign on Australian territory of how to leverage Western and Northern Australia to have seen the termination of the Chinese lease to manage the port of Darwin.

But as Peter Jennings has informed us, not so fast bucky.

Yet another review has defended the absurd 2015 Northern Territory decision to lease the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company for 99 years. The lease continues to dog successive federal governments and is undermining defence planning….

The review released by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet last Friday points to a “robust regulatory system in place to manage risks to critical infrastructure”. Such is the alertness of our national security guardians that “Australians can have confidence that their safety will not be compromised”. The statement acknowledges “the importance of the Port of Darwin as a key piece of critical infrastructure” but the focus on risks to the “safety” of Australians moves the attention away from national security.

The bigger picture is clear: China is becoming militarily aggressive in our region. Since the lease of the Port of Darwin, Beijing illegally took over disputed territory in the South China Sea, building new military air bases and sea ports. Chinese military power projects much further south to the Indonesian archipelago. Routine Chinese air and naval patrols and intelligence-gathering ships now operate in Australian waters.

These developments make northern Australia much more strategically important. This is why the US Marine Corps and US Air Force presence in the north is growing, and why they are building up fuel and other stores. It is also why US Virginia -class submarines will operate out of our western navy base from 2027. And it is why Australia is developing plans for nuclear-powered submarines.

The Albanese government should have overturned the lease because we, and our key ally, the US, need that facility to expand and secure a larger military presence in the north.

Jennings has been one of the key Australian voices focused on the need to address China as an urgent threat, not as a distant problem.

And he has pointed out repeatedly, to do so needs commitment of resources, and creative policy energy to the problem.

Which raises the key problem of how the Australian Prime Minister will handle his upcoming visit to President Xi.

Jennings warns:

“The risk for Albanese is that the visit will make him look weaker on China in Australia by celebrating small concessions in trade and ignoring the big strategic changes sweeping the world.”

But at a minimum, the challenge is bring the different pieces together for a coherent reset of Australian policy towards China and to have the kind of “strategic imagination” which my friend the late Brendan Sargeant argued was necessary in this new phase of history.

And obviously, this Is not a challenge just facing Australia.

Featured graphic: Shutterstock

Stock Photo ID: 1586568916

Exercise Steadfast Noon

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Thirteen Allies are participating in NATO’s annual nuclear deterrence exercise Steadfast Noon, a long-planned, routine training activity that is hosted by a different NATO Ally each year. This year, training flights are taking place over Italy, Croatia and the Mediterranean Sea.

Sixty aircraft of various types including advanced fighter jets and US B-52 bombers, as well as conventional jets, surveillance aircraft and refuelling aircraft from Allied air forces are taking part in the exercise to test NATO’s nuclear deterrent.

The manoeuvres involve aircraft capable of carrying nuclear warheads but do not involve any live bombs.

The exercise runs from 16 to 26 October 2023.

10.18.2023

Natochannel