Good to see LOSV back receiving some attention - with a few comments from myself amongst others. www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

‘Dead in the water’: Navy’s flagship ‘drone ship’ program in doubt

The government insists it still plans to acquire six large optionally crewed surface vessels, but developments in the US have called that into question.

smh.com.au

Public attitudes towards the ADF - Strong public trust in the institution - Limited support for additonal funding - Mixed public opinion on conscription - Increased opposition to working with allies The latest piece from myself and @townsend-nic.bsky.social theconversation.com/australians-...

Australians are more concerned about terrorism and cyberattacks than war: new research

A new survey reveals Australians’ growing sense of insecurity in the wake of the Bondi terror attack and global threats.

theconversation.com

The latest episode of #MaritimeMatters is now out. Jen and I discuss the Chinese SLBM launch, island building on Antelope Reef, RN USV strategy and much more. soundcloud.com/maritimematt... www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgU2...

Episode 43: Chinese Ballistic Missile Tests, Antelope Reef & Royal Navy Uncrewed Systems

Maritime Matters Episode Title: Chinese Ballistic Missile Tests, Antelope Reef & Royal Navy Uncrewed Systems In this episode of Maritime Matters Jennifer Parker (https://www.jennifer-parker.com.au/)

soundcloud.com

The ongoing focus in Canberra on collective deterrence and a middle power strategy is going down well in DC! For all the amusement it does again highlight the increasingly irreconcilable inconsistency in 🇦🇺 grand strategy

The 2026 Public Attitudes towards the ADF survey by the War Studies Research Group at UNSW Canberra has just been released. It follows up & expands on the 2025 survey assessing what the public think of Defence & the ADF. Here are a few highlights. www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/... 1/

“If it doesn't get done in 60 days, it's all right," Trump said. "We go back to bombing." Having bombed themselves into a far worse position this time around, I’m not sure why 🇮🇷 would consider this to be a credible threat. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Initial US-Iran agreement leaves many key issues to be negotiated

Trump has insisted the deal ensures that Iran will never buy, develop or produce a nuclear weapon. But text of the agreement falls short of that.

bbc.com

The whole Block IV vs Block VII discussion is highlighting the utter inability to have any reasonably informed debate about AUKUS. Despite the categorical claims made by advocates & detractors the reality is that we don’t know if this a positive or negative 1/

Of all the handwriting I’ve ever had to try and decipher, John Buchan’s is undeniably the worst!

A quiet revolution has happened in maritime strategy and we are only just beginning to realise. Some thoughts from me on how sea control has changed and what it means. warontherocks.com/a-sea-contro...

A Sea Control Revolution?

Sea control has changed. In recent years, there has been a quiet revolution in maritime strategy that has seen navies increasingly expected to exert

warontherocks.com

“I’d rather get a root canal” than have to import things into Australia” Interesting comments about logistics and sustainment in a major conflict in the IP. But I do wonder about some of the assumptions. www.defenseone.com/threats/2026...

The military says it’s ready to ‘fight tonight’ in the Pacific. Can it sustain that fight?

“We cannot win if our supply lines are 5,000 miles long,” says U.S. Forces Korea commander.

defenseone.com

The latest episode of the #MaritimeMatters podcast is out. Jen Parker and I discuss all things Balikatan, LOTE and a whole lot more. 🚢🎙️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlp_... soundcloud.com/maritimematt...

Episode 41: Exercise Balikatan and the Collins Life-of-Type Extension

YouTube video by Maritime Matters

youtube.com

Re-upping in case anyone is in London on 28 May - come along to hear about maritime business, the state, and British war-making 1914-1918

David Morgan-Owen@dmorganowen.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Looking forward to talking about my current project on seapower & the FWW at @kcllnucsc.bsky.social on 28 May. Link here: www.kcl.ac.uk/events/the-w...

Why oh why did I agree to write a report on ISR?! Now I am spending hours trying to get "survelliance" and "recognaissance" close enough for spell checker to realise what I am talking about! 😂

The manuscript of my latest book, The Battle for American Opinion: British Propaganda and Anglo-American Relations, 1914-1917 has just gone off to the publisher. 🎉🥳 Now, time for a glass of wine!🍷

A logistics come arsenal ship come drone mothership…. The latest example of industry assuming that as long as they put the word “drone” in front of something we will all suspend critical thinking. www.navalnews.com/event-news/s...

Hanwha Ocean Debuts Dual-Use Vessel for Drone and Strike Roles - Naval News

Hanwha and Leidos debuted a new dual-use vessel for logistics, drone mothership and strike support mission roles at SAS 2026.

navalnews.com

“Their primary purpose is to intimidate and guard sovereignty” Persistent presence bordering on occupation to assert sovereignty at sea. A perfect illustration of the points I make about the changing notions of sea control in my latest article. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

Why China is recruiting fishermen to 'maintain presence' — not to fish

Off China's southern coast, hundreds of fishing boats sit idle. The crews aren't there to fish, but rather to "maintain presence" as part of a shadowy, state-funded fleet.

abc.net.au

The prospect of 🇨🇳 tying energy relief for SE Asia to diplomatic/political shifts is both an unsurprising, yet deeply worrying new aspect of the ongoing crisis. www.reuters.com/business/ene...

China flexes energy leverage as the Philippines, US start annual war games

China on Tuesday implied energy assistance for the ​Philippines could be tied to Manila holding military drills with the U.S. and other allies, as its top newspaper showed Beijing's readiness ‌to leve...

reuters.com

A good and balanced piece on AUKUS, which is a rarity in 🇦🇺 right now. The only point I would add is that there is a question over whether 🇦🇺 should roll the dice given the stakes. AUKUS has always been high risk, high reward - but now much more so. www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

Forget Trump. On AUKUS, it’s the next president we must worry about

Anyone reading the news and trying to assess the state of the AUKUS pact would be understandably confused.

smh.com.au

My latest article is out. It argues that sea control has been reimagined in recent years, driven by a dramatic change in the value that states place upon the seas. This in turn is impacting navies across the globe. 1/ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A global commons no longer: Sea control reimagined

In recent years the way in which states perceive the value of the seas has changed. The processes of legal and extra-legal territorialization have meant that the seas are now viewed as having value...

tandfonline.com

It will be interesting to see how much longer the Aus govt can walk its tightrope over the Iran war as the economic implications really begin to bite and they need someone else to blame. Tying everything back to the war makes sense in terms of domestic politics, but could cause tensions with US.

Got a number of thoughts about the NDS26 and Marles' speech today, but I was quite taken by this comment. On one level it is a statement of the obvious - but to me it seems inconceivable that a politician would have said this 10 years ago. This alone is progress.

Why, when we are talking about the absolute fundamentals of Australian security, can we not use plain English? Language that says what we actually mean, and can be understood by the public.

The afternoon's reading - in between meetings... So far, so much the same www.defence.gov.au/about/strate...

The real stakes of the Hormuz crisis may only become clear when planting seasons are missed.

A Closed Strait of Hormuz Risks a Global Food Security Crisis

The war in Iran has done more than rattle energy markets. It has exposed an ordinary farm input as a strategic commodity. Urea is a concentrated,

warontherocks.com

It is not only the delay in the strategic fleet that is the issue here. The entire concept has been misunderstood. The Taskforce report successful managed to conflate the need for some vessels to requisition in the event of a crisis, with resilience of overseas trade. www.afr.com/politics/fed...

Strategic fleet delays leave nation more vulnerable to fuel shocks

Less than 1 per cent of the nation’s seaborne trade is carried by Australian ships, forcing it to rely on foreign governments and companies for vital imports.

afr.com

Indonesian overflight discussions with the US have huge implications for 🇦🇺. Many of these flights would likely originate from 🇦🇺, and the same access dilemma is a fundamental issue with current ADF strategic approach. 1/ www.reuters.com/world/china/...

Indonesian foreign ministry urged caution over US military overflight proposal

Indonesia's foreign ministry warned the defence ministry in an early-April letter that an American proposal to give its military "blanket" permission ‌to fly over Indonesian territory risked entanglin...

reuters.com

A couple of thoughts on the 🇺🇸 apparent declaration of blockade. 1) Subject to a couple of caveats it is legal. The first slightly embarrassing one is that legal blockade is an act of war - and 🇺🇸 has refused to call the “operation” a “war”. 1/

Richard Dunley@redunley.bsky.social · 4mo ago

So it’s only for vessels from Iranian ports. On one level that makes more sense - but when you think about it harder it highlights the bigger issues. This measure makes a lot of sense and was presumably not done previously because there was technically no “war”.

Congrats to all. Noteworthy that this is the first time ever that two admirals have been successive CDFs. Arguably an indication of the growing realisation of the maritime slant to 🇦🇺 defence and security.

A couple of thoughts on the 🇺🇸 apparent declaration of blockade. 1) Subject to a couple of caveats it is legal. The first slightly embarrassing one is that legal blockade is an act of war - and 🇺🇸 has refused to call the “operation” a “war”. 1/

Richard Dunley@redunley.bsky.social · 4mo ago

So it’s only for vessels from Iranian ports. On one level that makes more sense - but when you think about it harder it highlights the bigger issues. This measure makes a lot of sense and was presumably not done previously because there was technically no “war”.

So it’s only for vessels from Iranian ports. On one level that makes more sense - but when you think about it harder it highlights the bigger issues. This measure makes a lot of sense and was presumably not done previously because there was technically no “war”.