Australia
How Many Nuclear Submarines Does Australia Need?
The September 2021 announcement of Australia’s transition to nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) under the AUKUS program indicated that ‘at least eight’ would be acquired. More recently, the rhetoric has firmed...
Rebuilding Ties: Australia and China’s Diplomatic Turnaround
The recent thaw in relations between Australia and China may not come as a surprise to those who have been closely monitoring the two nations’ interactions. Some had speculated that...
Has Australia Become the Weak Link on Russia?
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA—For decades, Australia was a reliable ally to the United States and the West. While European countries prioritized trade with China over concerns about the threats the Chinese Communist...
Has Australia Found the Right Answer to Chinese Aggression?
From the time Australia’s relations with China began to deteriorate in late 2016, a pervasive view among many observers on both sides of the Pacific has been that Australia is...
America and Australia Are Training for All-Out Pacific Warfare
Australia is quickly becoming one of the United States’ most important allies in the Indo-Pacific region, and the two countries are deepening their defense relationship in a manner not seen since World...
Unmanned AUKUS? U.S. and Australia Join Forces on Drones
“I’m talking to my Australian counterparts in general about the NGAD family of systems and how they might be able to participate,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said, according to...
Eyes on China: U.S. and Australia Hold Major Joint Exercise
U.S. marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen recently concluded a combined arms exercise in Australia with their Australian counterparts this month, highlighting Washington and Canberra’s increasingly tight relationship and mutual concern about...
Australia Launches South Pacific Islands Training Initiative to Counter China
Australia plans to establish an international defense school for the purpose of training the militaries of small Pacific island nations, according to Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat...
‘Red Line’: United States and Australia Come Out Against Chinese Solomon Islands Base
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison warned on Monday that China’s establishment of a naval base in the Solomon Islands would constitute a “red line” for Australia’s security situation, sharply raising...
Australia Switches to the AH-64E Apache
This morning, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds announced that the replacement for the much-troubled ‘Aussie Tiger’ armed reconnaissance helicopter (ARH) would be the Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian. Australia will acquire 29...
Could Space Systems Improve Australia’s Long-Range Strike Capabilities?
ASPI’s Catherine McGregor has highlighted the concerns of two former air force chiefs that there’s an urgent capability gap in the Australian Defence Force’s order of battle—an absence of credible long-range strike...
Power in the Pacific: Japan and Australia Ink a New Alliance
Japan and Australia are set to sign a security cooperation treaty on Thursday amid mounting regional tensions between China and its neighbors. Called a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), the treaty...