Australia

  • Oceania

    Australia fortifies F-35 fleet capabilities, partners with Indo-Pacific forces

    Tom Abke Australia is enhancing the capabilities and durability of its fleet of F-35 fighter jets with expanded maintenance infrastructure, while also opening its facilities to F-35s from partner forces for maintenance and training in the nation’s vast airspace. The F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation stealth fighter designed for multiple roles, including air superiority, ground attack and reconnaissance. It…

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  • Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP

    Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Warramunga leads regional deployment

    Tom Abke The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) frigate HMAS Warramunga is conducting the nation’s first Indo-Pacific regional presence deployment of 2024. The Anzac-class, long-range frigate can conduct air defense, surface and subsurface warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance, and interdiction missions. During the three-month deployment, which runs through April, the Warramunga’s 200 crew members and assets, including an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter, are…

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  • Global Commons

    CCP’s espionage threatens military, critical infrastructure systems worldwide

    FORUM Staff To modernize its military under General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sought to steal critical industrial and military information and advanced technologies from foreign corporations, governments, militaries and universities through a range of techniques, according to defense experts. “The behavior we’re talking about here goes well beyond traditional espionage,” Mike Burgess, director general of…

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  • Partnerships

    Multilateral Cobra Gold returns to Thailand with all-domain drills, humanitarian focus

    FORUM Staff More than 9,500 participants and observers from 30 nations joined forces in Thailand in February and March 2024 for exercise Cobra Gold, the largest post-pandemic edition of the annual security cooperation drills co-hosted by Thailand and the United States. Cobra Gold kicks off in Thailand in late February 2024 with opening ceremonies, live-fire and medical evacuation training, and…

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  • Oceania

    Australia pledges funds for maritime cooperation as ASEAN summit begins

    Radio Free Asia Canberra will invest $41.8 million during the next four years to expand maritime cooperation in Southeast Asia, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in early March 2024. Wong made the pledge on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, which marked 50 years of partnership between Australia and the 10-member…

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  • Conflicts - Tensions

    Fit for Purpose

    FORUM Staff  |  Photos by AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE DEPARTMENT The mission was critical; the timeline telling: Conduct a comprehensive review of Australia’s defense strategy and force posture — perhaps the nation’s most consequential such analysis in more than three decades — and issue recommendations within six months, rather than the 18 months typical for such an undertaking. “Now that’s a tall…

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  • Departments

    ‘Aim for Seamless’

    FORUM STAFF PHOTOS BY AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE DEPARTMENT Australia’s Department of Defence prioritizes technology and innovation in its efforts to preserve a global rules-based order and a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. Dr. Nigel McGinty is at the forefront as the department’s chief technology officer for science strategy, communications and international engagement. McGinty, a panelist at the 2023 Pacific Operational Science &…

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  • Northeast Asia

    Keen Edge 24 sharpens Australian, Japanese and U.S. defense skills

    FORUM Staff Australian Defence Force (ADF), Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) and United States military personnel strengthened joint operational capabilities, refined command and control procedures, and enhanced interoperability during Keen Edge 24. Participants in the early February 2024 command post exercise, part of an annual bilateral series that alternates with Keen Sword field training exercises, used computer simulations to rehearse…

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  • Global Commons

    Allies and Partners invest in, collaborate on missile defense systems

    FORUM Staff Expanding nuclear and nonnuclear missile arsenals across the Indo-Pacific contribute to security dilemmas throughout the region. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) relies on growing capabilities — including intercontinental and inter-regional ballistic missiles along with medium- and short-range ballistic weapons — to assert expansive sovereignty claims. Meanwhile, a provocative North Korea persists with its United Nations-banned weapons programs,…

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  • Global Commons

    Australia, Japan collaborating on undersea communication, defense capabilities

    Felix Kim Australia and Japan are teaming up to develop undersea warfare capabilities as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) rapidly expands its submarine fleet and acts aggressively across the Indo-Pacific, often in violation of international law. The announcement mirrors Australia’s broader efforts to bolster its high-tech capabilities as part of its AUKUS security partnership with the United Kingdom and…

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