Colin Clark, the founding editor of Breaking Defense, is now our Indo-Pacific Bureau Chief, based in Sydney, Australia. In addition to his foundational efforts at Breaking Defense, Colin also started DoDBuzz.com, the world’s first all-online defense news website. He’s covered Congress, intelligence and regulatory affairs for Space News; founded and edited the Washington Aerospace Briefing, a newsletter for the space industry; covered national security issues for Congressional Quarterly; and was editor of Defense News. Colin is an avid fisherman, grill genius and wine drinker, all of which are only part of the reason he relishes the opportunity to live in Australia.
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“I simply see this as the latest step in defense’s endless quest to see it is not held accountable for its chronic poor performance,” Marcus Hellyer, respected Australian defense acquisition expert, said about what he called the “gutting” of the annual report.
Canberra and Washington “have an unparalleled opportunity to fashion broader, stronger, and multilayered partnerships,” writes Evan Feigenbaum of the Carnegie Foundation. “But this, in turn, will require self-reflection, not just cheerleading.”
“The Tomahawk is the jewel in the crown and a step change in our firepower, deterrence and ability to strike land-based targets at ranges never before available to the Royal Australian Navy,” said Pat Conroy, Australia’s minister for defense procurement.
If President Yoon Suk Yeol goes and the more liberal opposition wins, “Japan-Korea relations will go down the drain,” Chun In-bum, former deputy commander of South Korea’s First Army, told Breaking Defense.
“Having three Defense Ministers investigated, and two publicly accused of corruption, does not give a sense of stability” within the Chinese military, Meia Nouwens, a China military expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Breaking Defense.
“Japan has an excellent chance of success in this program, particularly if the broader technological partnership it will enable is understood clearly at government level in both nations,” wrote Michael Shoebridge, founder of Strategic Analysis Australia.
Per a government factsheet, India used to rely on foreign countries for much of its weapons, with “65-70% of defense equipment being imported. However, this landscape has dramatically shifted, with around 65% of defense equipment now manufactured within India.”
Advanced Navigation said it believes the new sensor system will enable drones “to navigate unlimited distances over land without relying on GPS, and is passive and resistant to interference.”
At the same conference, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell urged the incoming Trump administration to work closely with Australia and New Zealand to counter a “relentless” China and not to turn inward.
“Not only will this allow the Philippines access to higher capabilities and big-ticket items from the United States, it will also open opportunities to pursue similar agreements with like-minded nations,” Philippine Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong said according to local media.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said categorically that “we expect that Japan will join AUKUS Pillar Two at some point in the not-too-distant future to work on specific projects that have yet to be named.”
“Defence continues to enhance the size and lethality of Navy’s surface combatant fleet, as directed by Government in February 2024, and is progressing the acquisition of Australia’s general purpose frigate by engaging with exemplar platform nations and tenderers,” an Australian DoD spokesman told Breaking Defense.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Trump to offer his congratulations. “We talked about the importance of the Alliance, and the strength of the Australia-US relationship in security, AUKUS, trade and investment,” he said in a tweet.
