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.
"I think that the most important point to say to you, in 30 seconds is; this is just about the number one priority for me coming into this portfolio," Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
"It can be difficult to make these systems work in practice. I expect that it will take quite a bit of money, time and focus to get a system like this actually operating," said David Brewster, a senior fellow at Australian National University's National Security College.
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
"What I have said, and we maintain, is that the relationship with China will remain a difficult one," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at his swearing in. "It is China that has changed, not Australia."
"We aim to prove that we can stay focused on the region despite the very real power moves elsewhere," State Department official Camille Dawson said after mentioning Ukraine.
At the end of the panel, the US commander of the Eighth Army in Korea, Lt. Gen. Bill Burleson, made a point of stating categorically that the forces facing North Korea are ready to fight.
"Ukraine has shown that shaping and deterrence can fail, that assumptions can be wrong and that events can take on a life of their own. It shows the character of warfare may have changed, but its nature has not," the head of Australia's Army, Lt. Gen. Richard Burr, said.
The network transport architecture for NGC2 could be a hybrid approach that combines high assurance communications with 5G, WiFi, and multi-orbit satellites.
The PLAN ship passed within 17 miles of the Harold E Holt naval station base near the Western Australia town of Exmouth, which boasts a VLF transmission facility for communications with submarines.
"Steps are now underway to Australia to ensure Australia has a workforce with the necessary skills, training and qualifications to build, operate, sustain, and [decommission] a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability," Vice Adm. Mead noted.
"What this document says is, we have to anticipate this (Ukraine) emergency. Don't wait till it's upon us," said Rikki Kersten, honorary professor at the Australian National University.
The sub will be both an important source of intelligence and targeting information and may have torpedo tubes and boast other weapons, but those details are still being hammered out.
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
Stopping short of saying "red line," a senior State Department official said a US delegation warned the Solomon Islands about a US response should China attempt to have a "de facto" military presence there.
Morrison's "government has really dropped the ball on this," Peter Dean at the University of Western Australia said. "Why had the warnings last year not been taken more seriously?"
The White House announced that Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of State for east Asian and Pacific affairs, and Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council's Indo-Pacific Coordinator, will lead an interagency delegation to the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
On lawmaker said the drone program was a "rare defense project that was going to deliver new combat capability in just a few years and is shelved after a decade worth of planning and investment."