When I was last in Australia in March 2020, I was working on a report on the new Australian OPV program which was the initial effort to shape a continuous shipbuilding approach. That report can be found in Chapter Eight (“Building a New Offshore Patrol Vessel: A Case Study in…
By Robbin Laird The ADF faces a double challenge. First, there is the transition from the away game land wars to preparing forces for higher intensity operations against global authoritarian powers. I have written several books which address how challenging this shift is for a whole generation of warriors and…
By Robbin Laird One of Brendan Sargeant’s legacy to me was introducing him to a young professor, Dr. Andrew Carr who works on defence issues and is well along in writing a book on the history of Australian defence. Given the enhanced focus on the direct defence of Australia being…
By Pierre Tran Paris - France delivered weapons to Russia worth a total €344.9 million ($339.2 million) between 2012 and 2020, with a peak of shipments worth €81.7 million in 2014, the 2022 government report to parliament on arms exports said. That high point of French deliveries in 2014 occurred…
By Robbin Laird At first blush, some readers would expect a title that focused on maritime autonomous systems to focus primarily upon their role within the Royal Australian Navy, rather than looking at the role within the overall ADF. But because these systems are entering the force as it works…
By Robbin Laird I have known Wing Commander Keirin Joyce for a number of years, and last spoke with him at length after he chaired last year’s Williams Foundation Seminar on Next Generation Autonomous Systems. During the seminar, he highlighted an example of how current forces can use new uncrewed…
By Robbin Laird Enhancing C2 capabilities for the ADF in the near to midterm is a critical part of being able to deliver the kind of defense capabilities which Australia needs for its renewed focus on direct defense of Australia. During my current visit to Australia, I had a chance…
A great place to go to approach ways to answer that question is to visit The Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center or NAWDC which is best known to the public as “Top Gun.” When I last visited NAWDC in 2020 which I did twice in that year, it was very…
