Tag Archive for: RAAF

Allies, airpower and history

An RAAF P-40 Kittyhawk in PNG in WW2. By the time the strip at Nadzab was available in 1943 the USAAF was making use of more advanced aircraft.

In discussions about the future of ANZUS last week, I introduced a discussion of Australia–US cooperation in air combat and strike. Because of recent force structuring decisions, I think Australia’s well set up to make substantial contributions to coalition air-power operations in the future, but it’s worth thinking through how we might best do that.

History provides some valuable lessons. Australia’s first air operations with the United States were during WWII’s Pacific campaign. Australia started the war with equipment that wasn’t up to speed, and relied heavily on imports from the US and UK. Both of those nations had their own priorities and it took the RAAF some time to catch up. Read more

Air power in Australia’s future strategy: part two

Royal Australian Air Force airmen and airwomen, from Number 1 Airfield Operations Support Squadron in Darwin, load a Royal Australian Air Force C-130J Hercules at Cebu airfield during Operation PHILIPPINES ASSIST. When the Government picks up the phone to ask Defence to respond to regional events, Air Force will very often be the first responder.

In an earlier post, I reported on comments I made to the Air Power Studies Conference in Canberra last week (PDF). Today I address the old shibboleth of maintaining a ‘strategic edge’ in airpower capability, and consider the alliance and regional engagement dimensions.

The idea of a strategic edge has long been a cherished phrase in Australian defence thinking. There are clearly areas where the possession of a better missile, or sensor or a superior intelligence capability confers a tactical advantage, but in the Asia-Pacific we’re seeing a rapid advance in the military capabilities of many countries. The United States’ latest QDR (PDF) is reconciled to the reality that the United States will lose ‘technological leadership’ in a number of fields. Looking out 15 to 20 years, security in the Asia-Pacific will be a competition of equals—at least in terms of a platform or system assessment. Read more

Further Defence tasks outsourced

A RAAF CL-604 Challenger (part of the RAAF VIP fleet) at Canberra airport. Northrop Grumman Australia will now maintain these aircraft and provide a range of other services to Defence since its acquisition of Qantas Defence Services. The commercial woes of Qantas have blanketed the airwaves and newspapers of late, but the government’s intent to change the Qantas Sale Act to allow more foreign ownership of the airline seems unlikely to be realised in the near term.

Yet in all of the media fuss, virtually no attention has been paid to the fact that one part of Qantas has just been sold off to a foreign company—lock, stock and barrel. And it’s the sensitive side of Qantas to boot. On 27 February, Northrop Grumman Australia Pty Limited, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corporation of the United States, announced through a press release issued in Virginia that it has completed the acquisition of Qantas Defence Services Pty Limited (QDS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qantas Airways Limited, and that the acquisition is now called ‘Northrop Grumman Integrated Defence Services Pty Limited (IDS)’. That’s to say, all of Qantas’ defence-related business has been sold off to the Australian branch of an American company. Read more