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New battlegrounds: Australia's future fighting force

New battlegrounds: Australia's future fighting force

While Australia will confront serious defence challenges in the coming decades, what is unclear is how it will respond to predicaments a long way from conventional battlegrounds. 

As the nation adopts a new front-foot defensive posture and shifts its acquisitions approach, it will need to do more to combat cyber threats and disinformation, and compete in a new space race. Maintaining sovereign manufacturing capabilities and attracting (and training) top talent as new technology comes on line – especially AI – will be key tests of Australia’s resources and resolve.  

This special report looks at the future of Australia’s defence and national security in the wake of the influential Defence Strategic Review. Decisions made today will have a big influence on how effectively Australia can defend itself in the future.   

This special report consists of a series of related articles. Please click on the story links below.

Like its predecessors, the Labor government says it is committed to streamlining defence acquisition but at what cost to a sustainable local defence industry?
The national defence strategy must be practical, iterative, acknowledge the latent violence it foreshadows, and be collectively developed and properly assured.
northern shift
Hundreds of millions of defence dollars are now being poured into northern Australia in response to China's 'wolf warrior' South Pacific push.
In the wake of one of Australia’s worst breaches on record, can a new cybersecurity strategy help protect us in the future?
Misinformation and disinformation have been around as long as information. But their intersection with modern technology ups the stakes and the risks.
Every single person associated with Australia's nuclear submarine project will be imbued from day one with a set of principles reflecting safety and excellence.
Defence is at risk of letting the opportunities that augmented reality and virtual reality present slip by, and must take a more flexible and agile…
Australia has retired its Taipan fleet a year earlier than expected and gone 'back to Black Hawk', and it's a positive development on multiple fronts.
space
The falling cost of launching satellites is stoking competition for outer space, and Australia is in the race after signing an agreement with the US.
Cybersecurity is inextricably linked to human rights, and without human rights we can’t set the necessary conditions for state security.
AI development
Examining vast amounts of surveillance information has long been recognised as an area where AI can excel, quickly producing useful conclusions and even actionable intelligence.
army vehicles
An initial requirement for 450 Infantry Fighting Vehicles to replace the Army’s fleet of ageing Vietnam-era M113 armoured personnel carriers has been cut to 129.
It is estimated that 3 billion tonnes of critical minerals will be required by 2050. Australia needs to step up if it wants to become…