By the standards of Defence a $1.8 million 12 month contract with Deloitte is just a blip but it’s illustrative of money being sprayed around. We also have a quick look at AIR 6500 – and maybe what the DSR had in mind was something completely different from what I originally thought.
Maybe the hint they are giving is to look at expanding LAND 19 Phase 7 and adding on the David’s Sling missile from Israel. We have a look at some false claims and exaggerations from Defence and ask can’t we do better when it comes to the local manufacture of guided weapons. Finally – who invented the printing press? You might be very surprised by the answer – and it has implications for improving Australia’s security.
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Hi Kym,
Another good podcast. As for your conversation regarding the potential for furthering our relationship with the ROK, I am wondering what do you see as the most obvious or suitable areas for military or industrial co-operation? My current thinking is that Australia should acquire at least 3 more Destroyers serving the air warfare role. This could be Navantia’s offer for 2nd block of Hobart’s or perhaps an Australianised version (9LV and All Mk41 VLS) of ROK’s AEGIS destroyers.
Thanks. South Korean defence industry now does fairly much everything. It’s slightly depressing to think they started developing the sector at the same time as Australia in the mid-1980s with a similar budget and with the aggressive initial use of offsets and a sustained government policy of achieving self reliance they now make things from main battle tanks, ships, submarines, the KF-21 supersonic fighter through to satellites – so there’s a lot to chose from. Their Arleigh Burke derivative the KDX-111, which is about the same size as the Hunter class, packs 80VLS cells compared with 32. I think it’s worth having a look at that. It’s too late now but rather than spending $3 billion on refurbished M1A2s it would have been interesting to get a price on new K2 Black Panthers – even though I’m agnostic about the entire MBT issue. At some point we are going to have to look at some form of submarine capability as the chances of ever receiving second hand Virginia class fades – and again the KSS-111 Batch 2 is about the most modern and affordable design around. We are in the hunt for a new jet trainer / light attack aircraft and the FA/50A seems to tick all of those boxes and it will be interesting to see how our USAF-obsessed air force handles that competition.