The acute difficulties of urban operations epitomised by the struggle in Stalingrad recurred in Mosul, Raqqa and Marawi, exhibiting that the fundamental requirement for slow, systematic and deliberate clearing building-by-building is no easier 70 years later. In fact, the shift is in the other direction—things are now more difficult.  The enduring complications imposed by physical structures are now compounded by the presence of populations and informational factors, rendering the modern urban fight truly …

With rising great power contestation and increasing strategic risk across the globe, everything seems to be called ‘war’. Examples of war’s colloquial use include the trade war between the United States and China, and the concept of grey-zone war (sometimes known as grey-zone warfare). This style of ‘political war’ is defined as “…political influence, economic coercion, use of cyber, use of information operations, and …use of military posture” to shape an opponent, their allies and partners. [1] Although …

Emerging Threats and Opportunities (ETOs) is a regular blog series on the Land Power Forum that collects together blogs, podcasts and articles of interest with the goal of creating discussion on the topic of land power. Lessons From ASPI Strategist , a piece from December last year that explores the idea that the US may have learnt a lesson of minimising engagement in the Middle East over the past two decades, and thus, considers what a reduced engagement posture might look like. Coming from Richard Haass, …

Army has established an office within the Future Land Warfare Branch of Land Capability division to increase its adoption of disruptive technologies. The role of the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation Coordination Office (RICO) is exploration, coordination and concept development using disruptive technology. Director General of Future Land Warfare Brigadier Ian Langford said the RICO was “consistent with the CA’s vision of being future-ready by looking for opportunities to integrate technology …

Yesterday on the Land Power Forum—thanks to an article from Army News—we briefly introduced you to the Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation Coordination Office (RICO) operating out of Future Land Warfare Branch of Army’s Land Capability Division. The recently established Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation Office (RICO) is responsible for pursuing Army’s interests in Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) / Artificial Intelligence (AI) and disruptive technologies and ethically leverage …

‘The military that is able to figure it out and… that can weave together the old and new, not just old and new technology but old and new thinking, they will be the ones that win.’ ( Peter Singer ) Inevitable hardening of  military robotics  suggests that development of war munitions won’t be immune to the impact of  mechatronic warfare . Like the almost indestructible  killer robot  immortalised in the popular science-fiction franchise  Terminator , near-future military robots portend to be tenacious and …

Emerging Threats and Opportunities (ETOs) is a regular blog series on the Land Power Forum that collects together blogs, podcasts and articles of interest with the goal of creating discussion on the topic of land power. Understanding the emerging threats and opportunities presented by the operating environment is an important aspect to organisational adaptation. Akin to the Boyd cycle, or OODA loop, continuous observation of the environment can help the organisation orientate-decide-act, and do so in a …

Emerging Threats and Opportunities (ETOs) is a regular blog series on the Land Power Forum that collects together blogs, podcasts and articles of interest with the goal of creating discussion on the topic of land power. Lessons From the Modern War Institute , and continuing with the trend from last week, a summary of the tactical lessons from the Battle of Marawi, articulated by Lieutenant General Pamonag of the Filipino Army. This is a long talk (approximately 90 minutes in total), which explores a host …

Welcome to the Australian Army’s Land Power Forum . The forum, now six years old, exists to sustain a conversation about Army and its future. It is a place for the stakeholders of this future to offer their perspectives, whether they be serving military personnel, civilian officials, academics, members of industry and other partners invested in Army’s growth as an institution. These perspectives may include discussion on topics extending from the theoretical to the immediately practical; from perspectives …

Emily Defina is a Legal Advisor with the International Committee of the Red Cross Australia Mission. … Emily Defina …