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David TurnbullAustralian Defence ForceIn my previous blog (Turnbull, 2026), I explored the foundational work of building self-awareness, embracing

Australia is a maritime, geographically vast, technologically capable, and globally connected nation. These attributes do not guarantee effective national security, but they do provide choice, and Australia is now under increasing pressure to make the right one.

The onset of the war in Ukraine saw one of the most dramatic shifts in combined arms warfare since the introduction of the machine gun. This shift is attributed to the wide scale introduction of drones to the modern battlefield (Kagan et al, 2024). Principally the conflict is demonstrating drones pioneering new capabilities in reconnaissance, close air support and strategic strike with virtually zero risk to the operator.

Applying Wylie's Cumulative and Sequential Patterns to Air OperationsPeter Layton

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.

Strategist Joseph Caldwell Wylie argued that strategies were implemented through two general types of operational patterns: (1) cumulative warfare, which involves “a collection of lesser actions” where tactical actions gradually built up to have strategic impact; and (2) sequential warfare, which is “a series of discrete steps” where each lead to the next; an example being the island hopping campaign across the Pacific during World War Two.

The Moral Hazard of Bloodless Air BattlesDaniel CookAustralian Defence ForceA trend has appeared in modern warfare in 2025 – short conflicts betwee

Rethinking Air Superiority - Towards an Integrated Framework for Modern AirpowerKazunobu SakumaJapan Air Self-Defence ForceFor over a&nbs

Limited by resources and size the F-35 was the best, and largely only, option available to the ADF that guaranteed long term defense interests.