The Four-Day Near-Peer Air WarPeter LaytonGriffith University and Australian Defence ForceIn May 2025, India and Pakistan fought a near-peer air wa
Sustaining Communications Across a Degraded NetworkSteven CrawfordAustralian Defence ForceThe increase in interconnected systems within the Royal A
Professional military education is not just box ticking for promotion—a continuum of air and space power education is required to build professional mastery and maintain professional currency.
Trust: The Key to Developing High-Functioning TeamsDylan WilliamsonAustralian Defence ForceIn the modern Air Force, there is a large portion of att
Access to foreign bases has long been a critical enabler of the ADF, and ongoing access will be key to Australia’s future security. In the past, these Forward Operating Bases (FOB) were considered relatively secure, however continual improvements to the range and accuracy of missiles acquired by adversarial militaries have made these bases attractive targets, being the seemingly soft underbelly of western militaries.
In order to continue utilisation of FOBs, and to guarantee the safety of deployed forces, the ADF cannot remain idle to the threat of advanced air and missile attacks. As such Australia must look to develop its Air and Missile Defence (AMD) capabilities in order to remain secure in future operations.
The aim of the essay is to discuss a range of AMD design and operating concepts to inform the development of an ADF Integrated AMD (IAMD) capability.
This essay will be structured into four key areas: western nations’ historical and future reliance on FOBs to project power; the emerging threat of powerful state and non-state actors; Australia’s response to emerging air and missile threats; and, IAMD design and operational concepts in an Australian context.
This article began as a response to Daniel Cook’s recent article on ‘Turning the Tap Off – Stopping the Flow of Pointless Jobs in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)’ (Cook, 2023); as such, it will address some of the points raised in that article within the context a broader trend towards what I term ‘military populism’.
application of aerospace power has seen significant developments since 1994, most notably through American-led operations in Central Europe and Afghanistan, and continuing technological advances with weapons, uninhabited vehicles, space-based systems and information systems.
There is a blunt but effective thought experiment for anyone in a leadership role: if you see yourself as the village hero, but everyone you lead sees you as the village idiot, you have a problem.
Train like we fight, fight like we train.
