Page 17 - Australian Defence Magazine March 2019

MAIN: Congress’ new home at the Playhouse Theatre
BELOW FROM TOP LEFT: Chief of Army LTGEN Rick Burr, Chief of Navy VADM Michael Noonan, Shadow Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne.
highlights
gagement of both major political parties, the military, the bureaucracy and industry.
“This is a big national decision and we will seek to go out there and do that,” he stated.
He also confirmed that the ALP is not looking to immediately develop another Defence White Paper should they win government.
Uniformed perspective
Vice Chief of the Defence Force Vice Admi- ral David Johnston said the current national security environment was different to any- thing experienced since the Cold War.
While the 2016 White Paper remained the core of Australia’s defence thinking, some de- velopments in southeast Asia and the south- west Pacific had taken place very quickly and required options for government.
Cyber was a serious risk and was in the forefront of Defence thinking. Terrorism had resurfaced in the Philippines, and the use of chemical weapons in the Middle East and the UK had implications right across government and industry.
Planning for the Future Force covered the conventional naval, air and land domains but space and cyber needed greater focus – “they’re the domains we need to seek to understand, employ better and make sure we make judgements around the capabilities we will need, ei- ther to be able to exploit those environments or defend our ca- pabilities that are inside them” VADM Johnston commented.
Contestability is alive and well in the development of advice to provide decision support to Defence’s Investment Commit- tee, he added.
Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Michael Noonan spoke on ongoing and future proj- ects to support naval capability. Up to eight flights of the “exceptionally capable” MH- 60R naval combat helicopter were now reg- ularly employed at sea aboard Air Warfare Destroyers and Anzac-class frigates, he said.
“The next few years will see the Navy’s
use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) considerably increasing with our frigates, Offshore Patrol vessels and other vessels, regularly embarking UAS to complement our manned aircraft capabilities.”
Providing an insight into the ADF’s fu- ture land capability, Chief of Army Lieu- tenant General Rick Burr said his Strategic Guidance, issued in January, identified Ar- my’s response to future challenges as being strategy and command led, and culture and concept driven.
www.australiandefence.com.au | March 2019 | 17
“Contestability is alive and well in the development of advice to provide decision support to Defence’s Investment Committee.”