by Lesley Seebeck | Jun 14, 2024 | Policy, Strategy & Capability
Is Australia ready for conflict in an age of empires? Briefly: no. Australian strategy and policy, most recently articulated in the National Defence Strategy (NDS), is solidly grounded in the post-World War II, even post-Cold War, Westphalian world view. It is...
by Marcus Hellyer and Michael Shoebridge | Jun 7, 2024 | AUKUS, Podcasts, Strategy & Capability
Episode 19 – Collins subs life extension realities | RSS.com In Episode 19, the Grumpy Strategists set out practical ways that $multibillion plans for keeping Australia’s Collins class subs operating will need to change to enable the AUKUS Virginia class...
by Peter Jennings | Jun 1, 2024 | AUKUS
It remains to be seen if Donald Trump’s conviction on felony counts in a New York courtroom will have any material impact on the US presidential election in November. It’s clear many American voters would prefer different candidates. At least they can vote: the rest...
by Marcus Hellyer | May 30, 2024 | AUKUS, Strategy & Capability
Key Points The plan to put all six Collins-class submarines through an extensive and risky life of type extension (LOTE) that could keep some in service well into the 2040s is an artefact of the previous submarine transition plan that aimed to reach a fleet of 12...
by Michael Shoebridge | May 30, 2024 | Policy, Reading
“If you have never been punched in the nose, you have no idea how it affects the rest of your life” is how Elon Musk explains his childhood and introduces us to what drives him in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk’s career so far. I started reading the...
by Paddy Gregg and Michael Shoebridge | May 29, 2024 | Podcasts, Strategy & Capability
The Grumpy Strategist Makers’ Series Episode – Aus | RSS.com Michael Shoebridge talks with Paddy Gregg, CEO of Austal, about the company’s history as a builder of commercial and military vessels for decades now. We discuss its stocked up order book...
by Anthony Bergin | May 28, 2024 | Policy, South Pacific
An important policy change set out in the 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS) has been largely overlooked. The NDS states that Defence must fundamentally transform its recruitment practices and that this requires developing options for recruiting, where appropriate,...
by Marcus Hellyer | May 28, 2024 | Defence Budget, Policy, Strategy & Capability
These questions are based on the information contained in the 2024 National Defence Statement (NDS), 2024 Integrated Investment Program (IIP) and 2024-25 Defence portfolio budget statements (PBS). Note: In this essay, ‘this year’ refers to the 2024-25 budget year....
by Michael Shoebridge | May 23, 2024 | Strategy & Capability
In February, the Albanese government’s Deputy Prime Minister (and Defence Minister) Richard Marles announced that Defence would be taking delivery of the first of 11 new ‘general purpose frigates’ this decade, with three of the ships to be delivered to the Navy by...
by Peter Jennings and Anthony Bergin | May 21, 2024 | China, Indo Pacific, Strategy & Capability
On Monday 20 May, Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, was inaugurated as president of Taiwan, the self-ruling island of 23 million people. For the Democratic Progressive Party this is an unprecedented third term in the presidential palace, despite losing its...
