Welcome back on the rollercoaster!
Australia’s Strategic Defence Update 2020 sets Australia’s Defence priorities to our near region, including the South West Pacific and near north.
The 'poor man's air force' is a term for employing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hobbyist drones or uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to strategic level military effect, and that effect cannot be understated (Waters, 2018; Nadeau, 2022; Shift, 2023). The ability for terror organisations to coordinate multiple layers of effects, including using COTS drones, to destroy Command and Control (C2) nodes in Israel causes alarm. Couple this with the use of COTS drones for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, strike and battle-damage assessment missions, and the threat posed by what are essentially toys is alarmingly real.
Like all aspects of the ADF, the Air Force has the need to contribute and enable Australia’s larger national power strategies.
Living and Thriving Under Ambiguity
Luke Houghton and Jennifer Loy
Griffith University
Evolution of Air Bases - Darwin Revisted
David Miller
Australian Defence Force
Technology is a key driver for Air Force capability.
The Air Power Development Centre has supported the development of Air Power concepts and strategies since 2004.
