The Potential for a Broader Army Role in Domestic Counter-Terrorism Terrorist incidents in recent years—including the 2014 Sydney Lindt Café siege, the November 2015 Paris attacks and the 2016 Nice Bastille Day attack—have continued to highlight the vulnerabilities of Western societies to extremist violence. They also demonstrate how some global developments have removed some impediments for groups or individuals to conduct high-profile attacks with local resources and without deep connections to a …

In peacetime, the most important task of any army is to think about the requirements for future war and to prepare accordingly. As JFC Fuller observed, ‘preparation for war or against war, from the grand strategical aspect, is the main problem of peace’. [i] As war never stands still, much of this preparation should be spent on learning from past wars, examining the potential of new weapons and considering changes in strategic environment, in order to adapt to emerging conditions and to take advantage of, …

A study of Army’s education, training and doctrine needs for the future Introduction The Army lives in the school house. The quote above, from Lieutenant General Frank Hickling (retired) in January this year, has been at the forefront of my mind since I commenced this appointment. This study was established in order to gain an appreciation of the current strengths and weaknesses of Army’s approach to education, training and doctrine, and to then propose how we might rectify the challenges identified. There …

Lessons for the ADF       … Southeast Asia’s Security Landscape …

  Introduction This publication has an express purpose. It is to provide soldiers with an understanding of their trade. Waging war is a complex and dangerous business, but it is also an essential one for the Australian state and people. The maxim that ‘if you want peace you must prepare for war’ remains as true as ever. The converse also remains true. If you want war, disarm. Australia needs soldiers who are physically and mentally prepared to do what is needed in times of danger, and to do it better than …

Foreword Based on almost any metric, Australia’s strategic circumstances are deteriorating. Not since the darkest days of the Second World War has it faced threats to sovereignty and interests that could be described as both truly strategic and potentially existential. The return of great power competition amongst states competing for global hegemony, along with global pandemics, natural and man-made disasters, the possibility of nuclear war in Europe, global inflation, the hyper-transformation and …

Report on Applied Research Directions and Future Opportunities for Swarm Systems in Defence The Australian Government’s 2020 Force Structure Plan outlined a total package of capability investment of approximately $200 billion over the next decade (2020). This expenditure will equip Defence to meet challenges in the future with new investments in strike platforms, littoral assets, helicopters, information effects, logistics resilience, and emerging robotics and autonomous systems. The 2018 Army Robotics and …

Leadership and Ethics in 2040 Introduction The Australian Defence Force (ADF) ethos is derived from that of our broader society. And in turn, Australians define something at the core of national identity through the ADF. Australians are proud of the ADF and the ADF’s history. They need and want the ADF to represent the best of Australian values. And Australians will be direct in telling the ADF if we have let them down. [i] The year is 2040 and Australia is again at war. Corporal or Lieutenant Smith, an …

A Comparative Analysis of Amphibious Operations in the Pacific and European Theatres of the Second World War Amphibious operations came of age between mid-1942 and mid-1945 as the armed forces of the western Allied powers conducted over forty major amphibious assaults. Despite this, these amphibious operations required significantly different force structures, equipment, training and command methodologies. As the Australian Army adapts to deliver an expanded focus on combined arms amphibious manoeuvre, the …

Scalability Insights for Defence   Executive Summary Prepare to Scale Scalability is about how an organisation’s performance responds to significant changes in workload. The workload may be changing in quantity (more, or less, of the same) or type (existing products and services, or new ones), challenging the current size and shape of an organisation. Sound familiar? Recent events (e.g. the COVID-19 pandemic) have forced many organisations—public, private and for-purpose—to rapidly scale: upwards, …