By Robbin Laird Research Fellow, The Williams Foundation Sydney, Australia The most recent Williams Foundation Seminar was held in Canberra, Australia on September 28, 2022. The seminar was entitled, “Enhancing the Lethality and Survivability of the Integrated Force.” The seminar in effect provided a scene setting for discussing the next…
On September 28, 2022, the Sir Richard Williams Foundation held its latest seminar. The title of the seminar was “enhancing the lethality and survivability of the integrated force.” At the seminar, the three service chiefs as well as the head of defence design provided key contributions to framing answers to…
By Pierre Tran Paris - France will next year order 42 Rafale fighter jets, worth some €4 billion ($4 billion), and take delivery of 13 units, major line items in the draft 2023 defense budget which will total €43.9 billion, up €3 billion from this year’s arms spending. The government…
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…
