The beat

Sri Lankan police barred from leaving the country

The chief of Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department has issued a directive to the country’s airports to prevent police officers from leaving without permission. The order came after the election as president of former defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was being investigated for murder, corruption and war crimes. The move was apparently prompted by reports that Nishantha Silva, the chief police inspector investigating these allegations, had fled Sri Lanka and sought asylum in Switzerland.

Spanish police seize ‘narco-submarine’

Spanish police have recovered a submarine carrying 3,000 kilograms of cocaine, which had been scuttled in an inlet in northwestern Spain. Submarines are regularly used in South and Central America to traffic drugs, but this is the first known use of this method in Europe.

Police in Massachusetts trial K-9 robot

Massachusetts police have become the first in the US to test ‘Spot’, a robotic police dog designed by Boston Dynamics. The company initially leased the robot to the bomb squad for three months for testing, but it has already been used in ‘two unspecified, real-life incidents’. Boston Dynamics shared footage of the robot in action earlier this year.

Checkpoint

US expands ‘Remain in Mexico’ program

The US administration is expanding its ‘migrant protection protocols’ to Tucson on the Arizona–Mexico border, the last area not affected by the program. Under the policy, also known as ‘Remain in Mexico’, asylum seekers at the border will be transferred to El Paso, Texas, and then sent to Mexico while they wait for a hearing on their asylum proceedings in the US. Around 60,000 migrants have been returned since the program began in January.

Migrants rescued in English Channel

The British coastguard has intercepted a boat carrying 13 migrants in the English Channel. Authorities stopped the boat near Folkestone and brought the group, which included several children, ashore, before transferring them to a ‘specialist unit for individuals wishing to claim asylum’. The channel has seen a dramatic rise in crossing attempts during the past year, prompting increased security along the French coast and efforts to return migrants to France.

China sets up crisis centre near Hong Kong border

China has set up a crisis command centre near Hong Kong in an attempt to manage the current turmoil there. The facility is located on the outskirts of Shenzhen near the mainland border and is being used by officials to ‘plot strategy and issue instructions aimed at defusing the crisis’. Leaders of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy parties won more than 85% of seats in recent elections, and warned that they would pressure the government to accede to protesters’ demands.

CT scan

Europol disrupts IS propaganda

Islamic State’s propaganda machine has been dealt a serious blow by Europol, which has removed many of the group’s key actors from the Telegram messaging service. Well over 2,000 terrorist accounts and bots were removed from the platform. Pro-IS support groups have accused Telegram of partnering with Europol and are now arguing for the creation of an alternative platform, though none has emerged yet.

French soldiers killed when helicopters collide in Mali

Thirteen French soldiers were killed during an operation against jihadists when two helicopters collided in pitch darkness in Mali. It is the largest single loss of French troops since France intervened in the central African country in 2013, bringing the death toll to 38. There are 4,500 French soldiers stationed in Mali to conduct counterterrorism operations against IS- and al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents and to train local forces.

Mexican drug cartels to be added to US terrorist list

US President Donald Trump has announced plans to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations. Experts have warned, however, that the gangs should not be ‘conflated with militants who seek political power’ because their primary goal is to make money. The move could provide a reason for US military incursions into Mexico, though Mexico’s foreign ministry has issued a statement saying it won’t tolerate any violation of its national sovereignty.

First responder

EU sends earthquake support to Albania

The EU is sending emergency help to Albania after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit the country on Tuesday. Nations sending disaster response teams include Greece, Croatia, Romania and Italy. Bosnia and Herzegovina has also expressed readiness to help in relief efforts, and Kosovo has allocated €500,000 (A$811,000) to provide emergency relief to victims of the quake. So far, 30 people are known to have been killed and hundreds have been injured.

Unseasonal rains cause deadly floods in Kenya

Unusually heavy rain has caused deadly floods and mudslides in West Pokot county, Kenya. At least 65 people have died and around 120,000 have been displaced. Emergency relief has been slow to reach the area and officials are urging communities to move to safer areas. Kenya Red Cross has cited weeks of record-breaking high temperatures in the Indian Ocean as the reason for the heavy rain, which has also affected Somalia, South Sudan and Djibouti.

Satellite data can reduce disaster response time

Researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have calculated the value of using satellite data in the event of a disaster. Using the 2011 Southeast Asian floods as a case study, the researchers found that near-real-time information on flooded roadways could have saved responders an average of nine minutes per emergency response. They could have also saved money, with a previous study indicating that around A$74 million could be saved over a year by reducing emergency response times by one minute per trip.

The world

Kicking us off in the US, the second impeachment hearing has dropped a bombshell on a key part of President Donald Trump’s defence. The US ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, has testified that there was indeed a quid pro quo between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. Al Jazeera has all the details. Vox has an interesting article analysing the timeline of Trump’s phone calls to Ukraine and subsequent events, which could put the president in a spot of bother. And former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt writes about the implications of the impeachment process for the rest of the world.

Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize might be delayed just a little longer as North Korea’s latest demands are apparently more than the US is willing to give. Foreign Brief has you covered on looming deadlines and the possible restart of Kim Jong-un’s intercontinental ballistic missile program. Daniel David writing for The National Interest provides guidance on how Trump can achieve peace on the Korean peninsula in part through targeted sanctions relief. Should the US withdraw its troops from South Korea to achieve the denuclearisation of the North? There are some great points on both sides of the argument in this 38 North piece. On the topic of nuclear weapons, the Institute for International Strategic Studies claims it’s essential to maintain the Iran nuclear deal to keep at least some level of cooperation on nuclear safety. And see The National Interest for why South Africa became the first country to willingly give up its nuclear weapons.

Into the Pacific, where Australia’s position as the regional power and partner of choice for Pacific island nations is being challenged by growing Chinese influence. In the Sydney Morning Herald, Ben Bohane has examined China’s activities in the region, including a proposal for $1.47 billion in infrastructure investment in Bougainville that could see the resource-rich Papuan province lose the rights to its own minerals. Speaking of which, Bougainvilleans will begin voting on the independence referendum tomorrow. The Guardian has some great insights into the vote and the province’s bloody history. See The Interpreter for how China has managed to enforce its own laws in Vanuatu, and there’s a great article in The Strategist that claims Australia is being outmanoeuvred and outgunned in the Pacific.

Staying in the region, there have been calls for the US to ramp up its military presence in Australia by building a ‘massive’ naval base here. The US Naval War College’s James Holmes argues that Australia’s prime strategic location in the Indo-Pacific means an aircraft carrier strike group similar to the one the US has stationed in Japan could help contain China in a future confrontation. He doesn’t suggest an exact location for the base, and though he argues times have changed since the idea was floated in 2011, it’s still not certain a facility big enough for aircraft carriers would be supported by the Australian public.

This all comes as former ASIO chief Duncan Lewis warns in his first interview since leaving the job that China is seeking to ‘take over’ Australia’s political system through interference operations. Speaking to Peter Hartcher, Lewis also said the Chinese Australian community ‘could and should be vital in the work against foreign covert influence’. In an extract from his forthcoming Quarterly Essay, Hartcher outlines how new laws aimed at curbing foreign interference aren’t being enforced.

Tech geek

Boeing has been busy preparing for the first flight of the Royal Australian Air Force’s ‘loyal wingman’ prototype. The company has successfully tested its ‘airpower teaming system’ with a pair of unmanned jet-powered aircraft, and it’s planning more tests soon.

Defense One reports that US Special Operations Command is trialling new ‘supercavitating’ bullets that would allow special forces operatives to shoot enemy targets from underwater. In related news, the US Army has hired artificial intelligence company C3.ai to help it better predict when aircraft and other vehicles will break down.

In his latest contribution to The Strategist, ASPI’s Marcus Hellyer discusses Australia’s long-range strike options in the face of growing strategic uncertainty. The article offers a stark reminder that for years Australia and other US allies have not fielded a major long-range strike capability, possibly hampering the alliance’s deterrence efforts more broadly.

Meanwhile, China has been steadily developing its long-range strike capabilities. A centrefold graphic published by state-run Modern Ships magazine may have inadvertently revealed details of a new air-launched ballistic missile. In September, images of modified H-6N strategic bombers increased speculation that China had developed an air-launched version of its DF-21 anti-ship ballistic missile.

C4ADS has a fascinating analysis of a new GPS-spoofing device which has popped up in Shanghai, and which may be linked to illegal sand extraction. Interestingly, The War Zone’s own work reveals that the electronic-warfare device being used in Shanghai’s port is coming from a plant operated by Shanghai Gaore Industries, a company that distributes coal and other minerals.

This week in history

On 20 November 1945, the Nuremberg trials began. Over the course of almost a year, 12 Nazi leaders were found guilty of war crimes committed during World War II. A legal enterprise of this size and scope had never occurred before and among those hanged or sentenced to life imprisonment for their deeds were Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Rudolf Hess.

Multimedia

Al Jazeera World has released a documentary on how 14 cargo ships became stranded in the Suez Canal for eight years after it was shut during the 1967 Arab–Israeli War. [47:30]

See The Atlantic for some amazing photos depicting protestors in Chile, Hong Kong and Iraq using laser pointers to distract and obstruct riot police, drones and aircraft.

Podcasts

The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ China Power Podcast talks to Janka Oertel about the risks posed by China’s 5G infrastructure in Europe. [22:31]

For a deep dive into Australia’s jihadis, the Lowy Institute discusses new data on 173 individuals who have either joined a terror cell or been charged with terrorism-related offences. [57:26]

Events

Canberra, 27 November, 6–7 pm, Australian National University: ‘In conversation with Blanche d’Alpuget’. Register here.

Sydney, 27 November, 6–7 pm, Lowy Institute: ‘The disinformation age: Can democracy survive social media?’ Register here.

Sea state

The European Union has announced 13 new projects to be funded under its Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) initiative. Two focus on naval defence: the first involves developing a new class of military ship, the European patrol corvette, and the second aims to provide an advanced command, control and communications service architecture for anti-submarine systems. PESCO was established to support EU states to ‘enhance the operational readiness and contribution of their armed forces’.

Australia’s two largest warships, HMA Ships Canberra and Adelaide, have achieved final operational capability, making the Royal Australian Navy one of the world’s ‘premier amphibious forces’. The two Canberra-class landing helicopter docks, whose design is based on the Spanish Navy’s light aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I, will form the core of the RAN’s new ‘amphibious ready groups’. Both vessels are ready to be deployed on maritime operations such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Russia has returned three Ukrainian navy ships that were seized last year in the Kerch Strait. The three vessels (two gunboats and a tugboat) were captured after Moscow accused the Ukrainian navy of illegally entering Russia’s territorial waters. The ships’ crew were released to Ukraine in September. The return of the ships is expected to help build trust between Moscow and Kiev, and came as France announced that a summit will be held on 9 December to discuss ways to resolve the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Flight path

Israel hosted its biennial Blue Flag exercise, involving 70 aircraft and more than 700 personnel from Israel, the United States, Greece, Germany and Italy. The scenario-based exercise featured, for the first time, the Israeli Air Force’s F-35I Adir, a customised variant of the F-35A Lightning II. The purpose of Blue Flag is to provide training missions that build strategic partnerships and interoperability and help participating forces maintain their ‘sharp combat edge’.

In testimony to the US Congress, Lieutenant General Eric Fick said significant progress has been made in finding alternative suppliers for components for the F-35 that Turkey was contracted to produce. This will likely mean Turkey will be phased out of the process by March 2020. Turkey was originally committed to purchase 100 F-35s from the US, but its decision to purchase a Russian-built S-400 defence system prompted Washington to rescind the deal due to security concerns.

Student pilots from Norway and the US are conducting joint training to learn how to fly the F-35 as part of the aircraft’s first allied basic flight course. Pilots will first fly smaller aircraft over a period of eight months before they’re allowed to fly the F-35. The course has the benefit of increasing interoperability between allied pilots who will be using the same syllabus and tactics manual in training.

Rapid fire

Former members of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), the UK organisation that investigated alleged war crimes by British troops during the occupation of Iraq, have provided evidence indicating that the UK government and armed forces may have covered up the killing of civilians. One IHAT detective told BBC Panorama that ‘the Ministry of Defence had no intention of prosecuting any soldier of whatever rank he was unless it was absolutely necessary’. The Defence Ministry and Foreign Minister Dominic Raab have denied the allegations.

The Australian government has awarded a $137 million contract to Canberra-based CEA Technologies to provide advanced ground-based radars that will protect land and maritime forces from airborne threats. The company will integrate both short- and long-range radars into existing air defence technology. Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said the contract with CEA demonstrates the company’s success after securing a $90 million loan through the government’s Defence Export Facility.

In November 2018, the Turkish government and BMC, a Turkish–Qatari joint venture, signed a multibillion-dollar contract to design, develop and produce Turkey’s new main battle tank, the Altay. Delivery of the initial 250 units is scheduled for 2020, but an unnamed industry source said it would likely take a few more years due to technological issues. Western countries have been hesitant to share their technological nous with Turkey because of political concerns.

Final frontier

More than 1,200 scientists signed a letter calling for the European Space Agency to fund a mission to a near-earth asteroid at a ministerial meeting later this month. Hera, as currently planned, will launch in 2024 and will conduct a ‘double asteroid redirect test’ on Didymoon, the small moon of the asteroid Didymos, when it arrives there in 2026. The mission is important for planetary defence because it will test the ability of ‘kinetic impactors’ to change the orbit of an asteroid.

China launched two spacecraft within hours of each other last week. The first launch, organised by Chinese commercial launch company ExPace, used a Kuaizhou-1A rocket to deploy a small remote-sensing satellite. Three hours later, China used a Long March 6 rocket to launch five satellites into low-inclination orbit for the first time. These two launches bring China’s successful launch total to seven rockets in the past two months.

A new report by NASA’s Office of Inspector General has revealed the significant difference in price between companies for travel on commercial space vehicles. The space agency is likely to pay more than twice as much for a seat on Boeing’s Starliner as on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. NASA, which currently pays US$86 million per seat aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, is expected to pay around US$90 million for a seat on Boeing’s Starliner and US$55 million on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk commented on Twitter that it didn’t seem fair that Boeing should get more money for the same service.

Wired watchtower

DFRLab has published an analysis of the sockpuppet Twitter accounts that impersonated Kailasavadivoo Savian, the chair of India’s space agency, around the time of India’s first lunar landing attempt. The accounts were used to amplify disinformation about the agency’s attempts to re-establish contact with the Chandrayaan-2 mission. They managed to gain a significant number of followers before being suspended by Twitter.

A leaked report has revealed that the UK’s cross-party intelligence and security committee has been unable to come to a conclusion about the extent or impact of Russian interference in the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union. The committee has indicated that Britain’s intelligence services didn’t dedicate enough resources to countering Russian disinformation on social media in the lead-up to the referendum. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suppressed the report until after the upcoming general election, saying that his government needs more time to assess the security implications of the report.

Amazon has launched an appeal against the Pentagon’s decision to award the contract for its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project, known as JEDI, to Microsoft. Amazon had been the favourite to win the cloud-services contract until President Donald Trump said he was ‘very seriously’ considering intervening on behalf of Microsoft. Amazon is claiming that the decision was influenced by political pressure. The company released a statement alleging that ‘aspects of the JEDI evaluation process contained clear deficiencies, errors and unmistakable bias’.

Speaking at the Hudson Institute in Washington two weeks ago, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds affirmed Australia’s readiness to play a more active role in supporting US deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. Her remarks come at a time when the United States is demanding more burden-sharing from its allies, fiscally and strategically. Although Australia has so far escaped President Donald Trump’s fixation on other allies’ low defence spending, the Morrison government is acutely aware of the need to step up, and to do so publicly.

But what does supporting US deterrence entail in practice? Deterrence rests on the credible threat that the US is able and willing to use conventional and, ultimately, nuclear weapons to prevent a conflict with China and, if that fails, to manage its escalation. Australia shares these objectives, but to contribute to deterrence in the alliance raises difficult questions for both the US and Australia, and for their relationship as allies.

The scope for cooperation between Australia and the US in deterring great-power conflict in Asia is greater than it has been in decades. Canberra and Washington share a view of China as the main regional threat, and have agreed to jointly examine how long-range US air and naval operations from Australia could support common allied interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Both countries have been content so far with the low profile of nuclear weapons in the alliance. Yet in its 2018 nuclear posture review, the US articulated in greater depth the relevance of nuclear weapons for managing great-power competition. There’s a growing realisation among Australia’s strategic community that nuclear deterrence will become more relevant for Australian defence policy, and that increased allied contributions are required if the US is to play the long-term stabilising role that Australia wants.

Still, allied agreement on the need for deterrence doesn’t erase different perspectives on the relative costs and benefits this would entail. To date, the ‘joint facilities’ are the only area relating to nuclear weapons where US and Australian assessments of these costs and benefits overlap sufficiently to enable practical cooperation. Neither Australia nor the US is so far seeking deployment of US nuclear weapons to Australia, but this doesn’t mean that the current, limited role of nuclear weapons in the alliance exhausts the potential for further cooperation.

In the next AUSMIN summit communiqué, Australia and the US should start to regularly affirm the value and role of nuclear deterrence for strategic stability. Negotiating common formulations will help Canberra and Washington engage on underlying policy assumptions and frame discussions during crises. Talking about nuclear weapons demonstrates that both allies are considering the demands from great-power conflict at the most senior levels of government. Not doing so cedes the field to the advocates of the nuclear weapon ban treaty and unilateral disarmament that would undermine the alliance and regional stability.

Australia and the US should have a frank discussion on the role of arms control in international security. The Trump administration’s cavalier attitude to arms control is not what allies want to see from a reliable ally, and serious discussion of a future nuclear arms control agreement should provide a basis for useful strategic dialogue with Beijing.

Australia and the US should use a mix of official, think-tank and academic dialogues to draw out the views of Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries on a more explicit posture of regional deterrence, including the role of nuclear weapons in international stability. How Indonesia reacts to competing narratives of strategic stability from the ANZUS allies and from Beijing is crucial not just for Australia, but also for the US to nest its regional deterrence in a narrative for Indo-Pacific stability.

Finally, Australia and the US should explore practical cooperation in conventional long-range strike operations to signal the possibility that Australia may consider increased cooperation, including in relation to nuclear forces, should China significantly raise its threat to regional stability. Australian F-35 joint strike fighters could, for example, provide suppression of enemy air defences for US long-range bombers in exercises; and Australia could support long-range targeting capabilities to enable US strike operations, including by new US intermediate-range cruise and ballistic missiles.

Neither Australia nor the US has any interest in deploying US nuclear weapons in Australia. But we cannot assume this will pertain into the future. Whether we like it or not, deterrence will be central to the strategic shape of things to come in the Indo-Pacific, and it is time for Australia to step up.

Sea state

The Australian government has gifted a Guardian-class patrol boat, the RSIPV Gizo, to the Solomon Islands. It’s the fifth Guardian-class boat that Austal Australia has delivered to the Australian Department of Defence under the Pacific patrol boat replacement project since the company was awarded the contract in 2016. The vessel will replace the RSIPV Lata, which has been in service since 1988. Twelve Pacific island nations and Timor-Leste will receive a total of 21 patrol boats through to 2023 under the project.

Japanese shipbuilder Kawasaki Heavy Industries launched the 12th and final Soryu-class diesel-electric attack submarine, the JS Toryu, for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The submarine is the second of the class to use lithium-ion batteries, making Japan the first country in the world to equip attack submarines with the technology, which provides almost twice the storage capacity of lead–acid batteries. The Toryu is set to be delivered in 2021. The Soryu-class was offered to Australia in 2015 as a replacement for the navy’s Collins-class submarines.

MAN Energy Solutions has been selected to provide 16 engines for four refuelling tankers being built for the French Navy. The order is part of a logistic support ships program for France and Italy led by the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation. The ships are expected to be delivered between 2022 and 2029, and will provide logistic support to the French navy.

Flight path

Norway has declared that its F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighters have reached initial operational capability, making it the eighth country to achieve this milestone. The announcement came after testing confirmed that the jets can be operated away from their home base at Orland. Norway currently has 15 of the 52 F-35As on order, and plans to deploy them to Iceland next year to conduct NATO air-policing missions.

A US F-16 fighter jet accidentally dropped a dummy bomb onto private land in northeastern Japan near a bombing training site close to Misawa Air Base during a training mission. Filled with concrete, the dummy bomb landed in a meadow west of the training grounds. There were no reports of injuries or damage to buildings. The Japanese government has since issued a stiff protest, demanding answers from the US over the incident. US Forces Japan said that it’s investigating the cause of the event and has suspended all inert drops until further notice.

The US State Department has cleared a US$830.3 million sale of 10 CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters and associated equipment and systems to the United Arab Emirates. If the deal gets approval from Congress, it will be the UAE’s 10th planned acquisition under the US’s foreign military sales program since 2017, bringing the total to around US$11.3 billion.

Rapid fire

The British Army has secured a £2.8 billion ($5.3 billion) contract for around 500 Boxer high-mobility, networked mechanised infantry vehicles, with first delivery slated for 2023. Australia bought 211 Boxers under the Land 400 phase 2 project, but is paying around $25 million per unit compared with $10 million paid by the UK. The reason for the price differential is that the Australian investment reflects lifetime sustainment costs in addition to the cost of the vehicle. Also, the decision to build locally rather than import raises project costs.

US Army General Mark Milley has said 500 to 600 US personnel will remain in Syria after Donald Trump approved an operation to secure oil fields in eastern Syria. The decision has locked in a more complicated American presence, but has appeased many senior military officials in their push to remain in Syria to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group, counter Iran and support the Kurds.

The US National Guard Bureau has contracted Hollywood special effects company Westefx to transform its Humvees by making them look like Russian T-72 main battle tanks and BTR-90 personnel carriers. A total of 60 ‘visual modification’ kits will be fitted on the vehicles to make training more realistic for brigade combat teams exercising at Orchard Combat Training Center. T-72s are exported around the world and have recently been used in Syria and Ukraine.

Final frontier

Scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre have opened an untouched lunar sample from the final Apollo mission, Apollo 17, as part of the agency’s preparations for a return to the moon. The sample, which was collected almost five decades ago, was put into long-term storage by scientists working on the Apollo mission so that it could be examined in the future using more advanced technologies.

A bipartisan group of US senators have proposed a new NASA authorisation bill, in which they outline their intention to extend the International Space Station’s mission until 2030. The extension will depend on whether the ISS has support from others involved in the international project, notably Russia, the European Union and Japan. One of the sponsors of the bill, US Senator Ted Cruz, said that the legislation ‘will help grow [the US’s] already burgeoning space economy’.

Sudan launched its first remote sensing satellite (SRSS-1) in partnership with China from the province of Shanxi in northern China. The satellite was developed by a private Chinese company, Shenzhen Aerospace Oriental Red Sea Satellite. It will be used for research purposes, and will have both military and civilian applications. The partnership is indicative of China’s growing influence in the region.

Wired watchtower

The International Committee on Disinformation and Fake News has called for online micro-targeted political advertisements to be suspended until proper regulatory measures are in place. The committee, made up of lawmakers from Australia, Finland, Estonia, Georgia, Singapore, the UK and the US, met in Dublin and heard testimony from Facebook, Twitter and Google and other online platforms about how they’re managing false and misleading information and political advertising on their sites.

Shutterstock, known for its archive of stock images and photographs, has become the latest US company to comply with the Chinese government’s strict censorship regime. Software engineers from the company were asked to develop a blacklist of search terms deemed ‘politically sensitive’, such as ‘President Xi’, ‘Taiwan flag’ and ‘yellow umbrella’. Employees from the company were quick to criticise the move, with almost 200 signing a petition against the search engine’s censorship feature.

The Cyber Institute and National Security College at the Australian National University have been chosen by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to run a cyber bootcamp for government officials from the Indo-Pacific as part of Australia’s Cyber Cooperation Program. The cyber bootcamp will be held three times a year over the next four years and will focus on developing good cyber awareness and responsiveness.