The situation in the Middle East risks spiralling out of control with Donald Trump threatening to destroy Iran’s electricity grid and that country saying it will retaliate by targeting water desalination plants throughout the region.
Australia will not send a warship to the region at the moment, even if one were available, because the nature of warfare is being radically altered. The information about the ship was provided to the public by Transport Minister Catherine King because the PM, Defence Minister and Foreign Minister were all too scared to say anything that might displease the US.
Our government’s slavish attachment to Washington continues. Australia needs to seriously consider the possibility of being inadvertently drawn into committing war crimes.
We conclude with some very wise words from retired AVM John Blackburn, who says AUKUS is a waste of money and should be scrapped.
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Thanks, Kym.
The situation in the Gulf has highlighted Australia’s strategic vulnerability in a week. The use of asymmetric, low-cost drones to jeopardise fuel tankers through the northern archipelago would bring Australian industry to a halt in a matter of weeks.
What a pity we didn’t have a dozen or so long-endurance but robust class of vessels, like the Arafura, that could be quickly and cheaply fitted out with domestically manufactured kinetic and electronic anti-drone modular systems. These could be used in an escort capacity in a crisis and could also be deployed to protect key offshore and near shore military and economic infrastructure from drone attack.