Extravagant claims are made about the capability that the proposed AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines will give to Australia. The latest from Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy are particularly puzzling.
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Tag: Arms industry and trade
Nuclear-powered submarines are just bad defence policy
Leaving aside the potentially adverse strategic implications of Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine decision, for those who think a submarine capability is important, it is simply bad defence policy. Australian governments are now certain to be bedevilled by submarines for generations.
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Is ASPI advocating outsourcing defence policy to the gun-runners?
Is the Australian Strategic Policy Institute advocating that Defence policy should be outsourced to weapon system manufacturers? Commercial organisations responsible to shareholders, often foreign interests, should not be responsible for identifying and pursuing Australia’s national interest.
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Turkey’s president Erdogan says Saudi Arabia wants to buy its armed drones
Turkey’s President Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara on Tuesday [16 March 2021] that Saudi Arabia is seeking to buy armed unmanned aerial vehicles from Turkey.
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First test flight of Australia’s ‘Loyal Wingman’ autonomous aircraft
The first test flight of a pilotless fighter-like jet, by a Boeing and Royal Australian Air Force team, has taken place at Woomera in South Australia. The Boeing ‘Loyal Wingman’ is the first military plane to be designed and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years.
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Biden administration pauses arms sales to Saudi Arabia and UAE amid wider review
The Biden administration is reviewing pending arms sales, including controversial arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorised by former President Donald Trump. The review includes the sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, and F-35 fighters and armed drones to the UAE.
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France’s President Macron defends unconditional arms sales to Egypt
France has welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Paris. At a joint media conference President Macron told reporters that “matters of defence and economic cooperation” with Egypt would not be conditional on questions of disagreements on human rights, disappointing those who had been calling for France to take a stronger position with Egypt on rights issues.
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US-led global arms sales grew 8.5% in 2019, Australia top host of foreign arms companies (SIPRI)
New data from SIPRI’s Arms Industry Database shows that arms sales by the world’s 25 largest arms companies totalled US$361 billion in 2019, an 8.5 per cent increase over 2018. The top five arms companies were all based in the United States: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics. Outside of North America and Western Europe, the largest number of foreign arms company entities are hosted by Australia (38).
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US State Department approves sale of MQ-9 SeaGuardian drones to Taiwan
The US State Department is reported to have approved a potential sale to Taiwan of four MQ-9 SeaGuardian drones in a deal valued US $600 million, another sale of weapons to Taiwan that will be seen as provocative by China.
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US and India sign Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation
Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation As anticipated, the United States and India have today [27 October 2020] signed an agreement for the sharing of sensitive satellite data during a biannual “2+2” security dialogue in New Delhi. According to Indian defence sources, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) on Geospatial Cooperation will provide India with access to a range of topographical, nautical and aeronautical data necessary for more accurate use of missiles
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It’s one thing to build war fighting capability, it’s another to build industrial capability (Graeme Dunk)
Analysis suggests that the proportion of contracts awarded to firms that are both Australian operated and owned is low, and that work done by Australian-controlled companies has been increasingly subcontracted to foreign-owned prime contractors. The Australian part of Australia’s defence industry is small, and getting smaller. This subordinate role has important implications for the health of Australia’s industry and national resilience.
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Transatlantic defence cooperation in the Trump era
An element of strategic divergence means the US and Europe are currently “not quite watching the same movie on the two sides of the Atlantic”, but there is hope that transatlantic defence industrial cooperation can function better if trade-offs are accepted and we have a shared view of the value of working together as allies.
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