Asymmetric advantages that can be gained through cheap weapons should provide the government with food for thought as it mulls how to foot the hefty bill to defend Australia.
For all the controversy over Australia’s development of the Collins class submarines, in hindsight it was a comparative bargain.
At the same time, China’s purported use of “spy” balloons to fly over the United States has exposed how relatively low-cost technology can trump even the most advanced militaries. Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Marcus Hellyer, an expert on defence economics, says Australia “continues to dump a huge amount of investment into traditional capabilities”.
Technology is one driver, as weapons rely more on electronics than just mechanics, and individual troops and platforms become part of a larger networked force.This is reflected too in equipment physically becoming larger; for example, the ageing ANZAC class frigates weigh about 3900 tonnes but their replacement, known as the Hunter class, is heading towards 10,000 tonnes.
“Procurement and modernisation plans are being delayed by economic realities,” a report this week by London-based think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies says. China’s military build-up has happened more rapidly than expected; so much so that the Morrison government’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update concluded that the 10-year warning period Australian planners had long taken for granted before an enemy could attack the mainland had been dramatically shortened.
“Today we live in a globalised networked world where, as a trading island nation, so much of our national income is dependent upon trade, so any potential adversary can do our country enormous damage without ever having to set foot upon our shores,” Marles said.
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