Trump’s FY27 budget: $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon, $33bn for the State Department. Peace through missiles?

by Marcus Hellyer | Apr 10, 2026 | AUKUS, China, Defence Budget, Featured, Policy, Strategy & Capability

Since my planned birdwatching trip to western New South Wales was cancelled due the current fuel crisis temporary supply uncertainties caused by unpatriotic Australians panic buying and I didn’t want to spend Easter solely doomscrolling conducting deep research into...

America’s wartime defense budget: $1.5 trillion to deliver a military able to fight everyone – except China…..

by Marcus Hellyer and Michael Shoebridge | Apr 9, 2026 | Defence Budget, Featured, Podcasts, Strategy & Capability

America’s wartime defense budget: $1.5 trillion to | RSS.com Back in the SAA Bunker deep in the Brindabellas, Marcus & Michael declare energy independence (okay, thanks to government subsidies) and ponder the details of the Trump Administration’s new...

Australia’s Defence budget: a sugar hit followed by a $2.6 billion cut. Take that, Mr Trump, sir!

by Marcus Hellyer and Michael Shoebridge | Feb 10, 2026 | Defence Budget, Featured, Podcasts

Australia’s defence budget update: a sugar hit fol | RSS.com The Grumpy Strategists pan for gold in 234 pages of dense, incoherent Government paperwork setting out the Albanese Government’s revised plans for our nation’s defence, and find some rather...

Deceased estate: Oz Defence sells the silver to fund poor lifestyle choices, & US obliterating Iranian nukes (again).

by Marcus Hellyer and Michael Shoebridge | Feb 5, 2026 | Defence Budget, Podcasts, Strategy & Capability

Deceased estate: Oz Defence sells the silver to fu | RSS.com The Grumpy Strategists look at the recent ‘historic” plan for Australia’s Defence real estate (okay, a shameless Government asset sale of historic sites to perhaps produce a one-off cash...

Australian government prefers talking about defence funding over actually spending more.

by Marcus Hellyer | Oct 17, 2025 | AUKUS, Defence Budget, Featured, Strategy & Capability

The Trump administration has been calling on its partners and allies to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP. NATO has agreed to that benchmark, with another 1.5 per cent thrown in for vaguely defined national resilience and critical infrastructure programs....