Related items

Defence Strategic Review and Adapt: Implementing DSR as a Wargame

David Hood
Australian Defence Force

Introduction

Winner of the WOFF-AF Creative Writing Award, this Blog investigates how Air Force can improve its enlisted aviators opportunities without requiring them to commission.

The ASPC Leader Enrichment Program blog series delivers the thoughts and concepts of the program's junior leaders as they tackle Module 2

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’.

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.

There is a growing threat to societies, and their critical infrastructure as more actors take to the skies.

How well do Commanders know Aviator's understanding of National Power? Is there a knowledge gap? Does it matter?

Like all aspects of the ADF, the Air Force has the need to contribute and enable Australia’s larger national power strategies.