Abstract Emerging challenges that are beyond the capability and intent of terrorist actors will require changes to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) counterterrorism (CT) enterprise. The ADF has been developing specialist CT capabilities since the Sydney Hilton bombing in 1978, 1 and has applied these skills to pronounced effect in many international theatres, including East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. However, recent operations have seen a transfer of those skills from the special operations force (SOF) …

Culture is the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organisation; that operate unconsciously and define in a basic ‘taken for granted’ fashion an organisation’s view of its self and its environment. - Edgar Schein Abstract The way the Australian Army uses the term ‘warfighter’ as part of its contemporary culture undermines its joint warfighting philosophy by generating disharmony between the elements of fighting power and the external environment. This ultimately …

Abstract Army’s ‘Accelerated Warfare’ framework promotes the notion of constant change, technological disruption, and the contest of ideas which ultimately should encourage us to innovate. Advanced manufacturing is one of many areas where we may be able to do this. At present, there is an inherent lack of organisational agility to design, prototype and test innovative proposals within Army. There are also some very real constraints in the supply chain, specifically getting quick access to repair parts, …

Abstract Army’s futures statement, Accelerated Warfare , describes a future operating environment that will be complex and uncertain. Uncertainty in the battlespace can be reduced through effective intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Yet Army’s ISR capability has not been widely debated in the context of the future battlespace. The aim of this article is to prepare Army’s ISR capability for the challenges of an accelerating environment. Using an inside-out methodology, this analysis …

Abstract The Australian Defence Force (ADF) operates in an environment characterised by accelerating and converging change, set against an international context of cooperation, competition and conflict. To meet the Army’s mission of preparing for war, the organisation must undertake a holistic process of modernisation to anticipate the challenges of the future environment. Using available, emerging technology, Army can exploit opportunities to define the operating concepts, structures and personnel …

The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and means can never be considered in isolation from their purpose.  - Carl von Clausewitz 1 Abstract The ‘levels of war’ is a doctrinal construct which describes the way political objectives are translated into military strategies which in turn guide tactical actions. Or at least that is what it should be. The operational level has been expanded and redefined over the last century by writers of Western doctrine. Unfortunately, the …

Introduction This paper explores concepts being developed by the United States Marine Corps, UK Royal Marines and Royal Navy (including the US Concept for Stand-In Forces, and the British Commando Forces concept), in order to inform an Australian approach to stand-in manoeuvre in contested littoral environments. The paper first examines the challenges and implications of a contested littoral environment, identifying the need to operate in a distributed, low-profile, mobile, modular and sustained manner …

Introduction The global distribution of power is shifting to Asia, and Australia’s strategic risks are rising. With reduced warning time, emerging great power competition, and expanding regional navies, Australia’s risks are growing within the maritime domain of its immediate region. Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update (DSU) and 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) marked significant changes in its strategic approach, identifying the growing potential threat from China and shifting from multiple …

Introduction In the National Defence Statement that forms Part A of the public version of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR), the Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, states that ‘Army must be optimised for littoral operations in our northern land and maritime spaces and provided a long-range strike capability’. Elsewhere in the document, one of the key priorities for the Army is stated to be ‘land-based maritime strike’. [1] The concept of maritime force projection from land has been developing for some …

Introduction Since the Second World War, Australian naval, land and air forces have rarely had the opportunity to undertake amphibious operations on active deployments. On the evening of 24 May 2006, with firefights taking place around the Timorese capital of Dili and the government losing control of its own security services, the country’s political leaders requested assistance from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal ‘in sending defence as well as security forces from their countries to …