Force Structure – Here and there

ASPI’s guide to submarines leaves the biggest strategic questions unanswered

9 November 2020 Mike Scrafton Australia, By Mike Scrafton, Strategy, defence and security

ASPI’s Special Report; submarines, your questions answered aims to “become the go-to guide for authoritative comment on all things to do with the present and future of Australian submarines”. However, rather than clarify the issues around submarine warfare and the Attack class, it raises more questions than it answers. That’s not to deny that there are important contributions in the report from Andrew Davies, Marcus Hellyer, Malcolm Davis, and others.

Exaggerated threats and contrived military strategies shouldn’t drive Defence spending: a response to Jon Stanford

2 November 2020 Mike Scrafton Australia, By Mike Scrafton, Strategy, defence and security

In a series of three articles, Jon Stanford has argued that Australia needs “a sound military strategy to deter an attack by a great power and careful analysis of how to design the right force structure to deliver it”. An external, more ‘neutral’ review of Australia’s military strategy is proposed. But it is not clear that Australia needs a new military strategy – let alone one that would require a 50 % increase in the Defence budget.