The Evolving Role of the Fighter in the Integratable Air Wing: The View from TOPGUN

05/10/2020
With the developing relationship between sensors and shooters in the maritime kill web, what is the evolving role of the fighter? I had a chance to talk about these changes with the CO of TOPGUN, CDR Tim Myers. We started by discussing how he would compare and contrast his experience…

Digital Education for Digital Shipbuilding

05/09/2020
Australia’s first digital shipbuilding course began a month ago, changing traditional shipbuilding education in this country. The Diploma of Digital Technology is educating participants about digital technologies, connecting workers and information systems to ensure they learn and master the digital technology skills to work on the Government’s $35 billion Hunter-class…

A Plus Up for the Royal Australian Navy: Six New Patrol Boats from Austal

05/09/2020
By Australian Defence Business Review The Commonwealth has announced it will acquire six more Cape class patrol boats from Austal for the RAN as it seeks to support Australian industry during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The six vessels will be built at Austal’s Henderson yard in Western Australia, and will…

COVID-19 Crisis: Geopolitical Implications for Australia

05/08/2020
By Paul Dibb The coronavirus pandemic will affect the power of countries in different ways. The biggest impact will be reductions in the economic, and therefore military, strength and relative power of competing major states. The American historian Walter Russell Mead says that ‘the balance of world power could change significantly as…

Artificial Intelligence Enabled Airborne Search and Rescue

05/07/2020
By Ms Samara Kitchener Airborne search and rescue is an expensive and demanding task, but what if there was a better way? AI-Search, Defence’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) prototype to transform airborne search and rescue, is now in its second phase of development. The prototype is a collaboration between the Royal…

WestPac Exercise Tests ACE Approach: Highlights USAF Role in Maritime Operations

05/06/2020
The USAF led a joint exercise in January 2020 focused on WestPac. The exercise had the stated purpose of distributing airpower throughout the operational area and working integratability to shape the desired combat effect. But not overtly noted in the official statements was the growing concern and focus which the…

Shaping A Way Ahead for the Hawkeye/ Stingray Cluster in the Integratable Carrier Air Wing

05/06/2020
By Robbin Laird In my discussions earlier this year in San Diego with Vice Admiral Miller, we focused on the dynamics of change within and beyond the carrier air wing. In that discussion, what was highlighted was a way to look at the shift from a legacy approach to the…