Australian Navy

After ambition, implementation: How Australia builds its new navy
After ambition, implementation: How Australia builds its new navy
The government’s response to the independent review of Australia’s surface combatant fleet is ambitious. When combined with the AUKUS agreement to obtain nuclear-powered…
Australia's new navy: The Japanese option
Australia's new navy: The Japanese option
By the end of this decade the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) may well by operating a frigate that originates from Japan. The Independent Analysis of Navy's Surface Combatant Fleet…
AUKUS is a Trump-style deal
AUKUS is a Trump-style deal
Donald Trump’s recent outburst about lax European defence efforts once again made headlines. Trump went further than earlier suggestions he would pull the United States out of…
The right lessons for Australia’s future warships
The right lessons for Australia’s future warships
Australia looks set to make a big decision about the future of its navy – and this time, it’s not submarines. We are days away from the release of the Surface Fleet Review, a…
Why big projects fail: Climate change and AUKUS submarines
Why big projects fail: Climate change and AUKUS submarines
Book review: How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner (Penguin Random House, 2023) We don’t need to look at detailed statistics to know that large-scale…
How to stop any repeat of the Australia-China sonar incident
How to stop any repeat of the Australia-China sonar incident
Soviet warships regularly sparred with Western navies during the Cold War years, conducting close-in ship-to-ship manoeuvres and pointing lasers against their foreign opponents at…
China’s sonar pulse poses another test of Australia’s will
China’s sonar pulse poses another test of Australia’s will
China’s harassment of Australian warship HMAS Toowoomba off the coast of Japan, which reportedly caused minor injuries to naval divers attempting to clear a fishing net from the…
ASEAN maritime security and what next week’s navy exercises mean
ASEAN maritime security and what next week’s navy exercises mean
Next week, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will commence joint military exercises, officially called ASEAN Solidarity Exercise Natuna (ASEX 01–Natuna),…
The social licence for AUKUS has not yet been earned
The social licence for AUKUS has not yet been earned
The Australian Labor Party is firmly committed to the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines, at least according to the unopposed motion passed at last week’s ALP National Conference…
The “somewhat” conundrum: Lack of communication bedevils AUKUS support
The “somewhat” conundrum: Lack of communication bedevils AUKUS support
Reflecting Australia’s changing strategic environment, the government has a new and – as the public is often told – ambitious strategy to preserve and achieve national interests. …