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Airbases do not feature significantly in the history of air power unless they are denied.

Australia’s Strategic Defence Update 2020 sets Australia’s Defence priorities to our near region, including the South West Pacific and near north.

Technology usually follows a certain progression – first the device gets more features before it reduces in size. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) fill this description perfectly, and we have yet to come up with an adequate defence for them.

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.

The Temptation To Go Beyond Conventional Long-Range Strike

Daniel Cook
Australian Defence Force

Air Marshal Chipman, former Chief of the Air Force, announced on the eve of the 2023 Avalon Air Show that Australia needs to consider and invest in low-cost mass-produced (LCMP) drones.

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

Decreasing Reliance on Fossil Fuels to Increase Defence Capability

Benjamin Cole
Australian Defence Force