The breakdown of an initial ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas last weekend played out to a familiar soundtrack: the wail of air-raid sirens and the menacing hiss of incoming rocket fire, followed…
Prime Minister Tony Abbot in the pilot seat of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Prime Minister Tony Abbott sat in the pilot seat of a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at the time he announced his government will buy an additional 58 planes at a cost of at least A$12.4 billion. But imagine…
The Russian response to what Moscow perceives as its three main security challenges – Western enlargement, China and terrorism/separatism in the Caucasus – has been expansionism. First in Abkhazia in 2008…
The F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter.
Flickr/Lockheed Martin
If Australia is serious about buying the jump jet version of the Joint Strike Fighter it would be wise to look at why the UK is the only country to change its mind on which version of the aircraft to buy…
Charis Palmer, The Conversation e Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation
Since publication this infographic has been amended. The original version stated the NDIS was scaled back. There are no planned cuts to the funding of the NDIS.
Treasurer Joe Hockey and finance minister Mathias Cormann face a difficult sell for the Abbott government’s tough first budget.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Abbott government is hoping an A$11.6 billion infrastructure spending package, combined with a $20 billion medical research fund, will help soften the blow of widespread tightening of health and welfare…
Britain’s combat operations in Afghanistan are due to end completely this year, and along with them a century of continuous UK involvement in foreign conflicts. But ever since the HMS Ark Royal sailed…
The news that Australia is about to spend $24 billion on a new generation of fighter aircraft has been greeted with remarkably little critical comment or analysis. It is hard to imagine that any other…
Don’t believe the hawks.
Cpl Ashley Keates RAF/Crown Copyright
Former British Vice Admiral John McAnally entered into the Scottish constitutional debate the other day by warning of the “dire” defence implications for Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom should…
No longer just about soldiering on.
Defence Images
Despite prolonged combat missions and a bigger than expected death toll in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers are a resilient bunch when it comes to mental health – and especially those in elite…
Saab is a relatively small aerospace company, employing almost 14,000 personnel with sales of £2.25 billion in 2012: it is a David among Goliaths. And yet, as 2013 drew to a close it was announced that…
Defence advocates are arguing that military spending should be increased to an arbitrary target of 2% of GDP. But should it actually be cut?
AAP/Department of Defence
Some aspects of foreign policy are as important to big business as the rest of the population in relation to national security. Australians generally want to avoid war, so substantial capacity for preventive…
At ease: Indian soldiers deployed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
John Giles/PA
When a highly populous, rapidly developing, nuclear armed, space-voyaging and increasingly assertive Asian nation announces the purchase of its third aircraft carrier, a few months after launching its…
Made in the UK: nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard and Type 45 frigate HMS Dragon.
MOD/Tam McDonald
The controversy over the BAE Systems decision on warship building has been dominated by myth, emotion and pleading. Arguments are raging about English versus Scottish jobs, about shipbuilding as a key…
Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the arms trade.
Andrew Milligan/PA
The announcement that defence company BAE Systems is to cut 1,775 jobs at its naval warship yards in Portsmouth and in Scotland will come as a huge blow to those workers, their families and their local…
What will defence policy under Tony Abbott and new defence minister David Johnston look like?
AAP/Dean Lewins
The Abbott government talks a good game on defence. While in opposition, new defence minister David Johnston slammed Labor for failing to fund the grand promises of the 2009 Defence White Paper. Now in…
“Currently, the share of [gross domestic product] spent on Defence – at 1.59% – has fallen to its lowest level since 1938.” Liberal Party press release, 2 September. The Coalition yesterday announced its…
Australia’s foreign aid commitments play an integral role in the nation’s ‘soft power’ and regional security.
Marion Doss
Amidst the controversy over Julie Bishop’s Guardian interview earlier this week, many of the interesting facts about foreign policy under a putative Coalition government were lost. Notably, the opposition’s…
Sorry captain, I thought the big red button made it go faster.
PA/Andy Buchanan
The Coalition government is pressing ahead with a long, expensive and controversial programme to replace the Trident nuclear weapon system beginning with the procurement of a new fleet of submarines armed…
Defence minister Stephen Smith, prime minister Julia Gillard and Commander of Defence Forces David Hurley at the launch of the Defence White Paper.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Australia’s new Defence White Paper reflects a revolution in the way in which Australia thinks about its strategic geography. The “Indo-Pacific” has now decisively displaced the “Asia-Pacific” as defence…