A Practitioners Annotated Bibliography FOREWORD “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana 1905 Every few decades a generation of soldiers learns the ‘lessons’ of urban warfare the hard way. Yet it seems that those …

Spotlight Brief 7/21 has particular emphasis on issues relating to the future of warfare, especially land warfare, in addition to its usual areas of interest. The Australian Army operates across a broad range of missions, but what is common is its need to continuously adapt; to respond to the rapid pace of change, to always be prepared to do more, to do things differently, and to do new things. The Army has grasped this, reflected in its work to incorporate and respond to Accelerated Warfare , and …

Introduction The fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August, and the announcement of the Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS) trilateral security partnership in September, mark the third quarter (Q3) 2021 Strategic Assessment as covering the most significant strategic developments since these assessments began. Despite the extensive recent commentary about the end of the West’s campaign in Afghanistan and the beginning of an important new strategic partnership, there is still a great deal of …

Abstract Rapid, globalised power shifts, technological advances, and increasingly interconnected, ungoverned communications networks have resulted in the rise of asymmetric grey zone threats. The lines are now blurred between political, civil, and military information environments. The rise of influence activities is the new ‘sharp power’ in information warfare (the iWar). Western democracies are already at war in the information domain and are being out-communicated by their adversaries. Building on the …

The world looks over the shoulders of corporals and holds them accountable for every time they and their soldiers pull the trigger, as well as for their behaviour towards those they encounter. Their tactical decisions and personal conduct may have significance that reaches far beyond their individual actions. Corporals must be able to operate in troubles cities, among traumatised and displaced people, while being provoked and attacked by a range of unarmed and armed groups. Their reactions can have …

Human-Machine Teaming and the Future of Command and Control in the Australian Army Abstract In 2018, the Australian Army launched its Robotic and Autonomous Systems Strategy to capitalise on the military opportunities presented by the much-anticipated ‘fourth industrial revolution’ in artificial intelligence and machine learning software. The key to realising this potential lies in the effective integration of soldiers and autonomous systems, known as human-machine teaming. Through human-machine teaming, …

Introduction: The Changed Face of War This report examines how the Australian Army’s engagement with and use of social media compares to that of a selection of its allied and comparator militaries. It finds that, despite the welcome establishment of the Information Warfare Division (IWD) in July 2017, Army continues to trail its allies and is a long way behind best practice in its adoption of, adaptation to and use of social media as a capability in the contest for information advantage against its …

Executive Summary The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are seemingly stabilising, with global economies, including Australia’s, on the road to recovery. The ‘securitisation’ of diversifying and expanding threats ‘in the national interest’ might counterintuitively inhibit the development of the resilience needed from across all of Australia’s elements of national power. The Quarter 3 Strategic Assessment concludes that Army will face a planning challenge of ‘building back better’ via an expanding scope of …

Welcome to the fifth issue of Future Land Warfare Branch’s Spotlight Brief from the Australian Army Research Centre (AARC). This issue has a particular emphasis on issues relating to Army’s workforce, culture and ethics in addition to its usual areas of interest. People are at the centre of our Army. Our people are diverse, skilled and resilient volunteers. They lead, inspire and make a difference in our communities, in our region and across the world. They deliver results for Australia every day. Every …

Overstating the Priority for United States Military Fuel Sustainability in Australia Abstract Reducing the United States military’s petroleum consumption became a declared Obama Administration-era policy. This policy was often framed as a measure to address the tactical losses suffered during fuel supply operations in the Middle East, but there were notable links to environmental and broader energy security agendas. While the US military undertook a large number of mostly modest initiatives to reduce …