Page 6 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep-Oct 2022

6 EDITORIAL
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
THE DEFINITION OF RESILIENCE
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
www.australiandefence.com.au
PUBLISHER: Ewen Levick Email: ewenlevick@yaffa.com.au Mob: 0447 961 544
EDITOR: Nigel Pittaway Email: nigelpittaway@yaffa.com.au Mob: 0418 596 131
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT – Julian Kerr
Email: jhrhkerr@bigpond.net.au Tel: (02) 02 9960 4054 Mob: 0418 635 823
ASSISTANT EDITOR – DIGITAL: Roya Ghodsi
Email: royaghodsi@yaffa.com.au Mob: 0458 484 619
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER: Michael Flanagan
Email: michaelflanagan@yaffa.com.au Mob: 0403 238 440
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Tracy Yaffa Email: tracyyaffa@yaffa.com.au
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Kylie Leonard Email: kylieleonard@yaffa.com.au
PUBLISHING ASSISTANT: Linda Turrisi Email: lindaturrisi@yaffa.com.au
BOOKS EDITOR: Peter Masters Email: petermasters@ngvemail.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS GREATMAGAZINES.COM.AU
CALL 1800 807 760
EMAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS@YAFFA.COM.AU
MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS TO Subscription Department, Australian Defence Magazine GPO Box 606 Sydney NSW 2001
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Tracy Yaffa PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Matthew Gunn STUDIO MANAGER: Lauren Esdaile DESIGNER: Maria Alegro MARKETING MANAGER: Lucy Yaffa
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION: John Viskovich Tel: (02) 9213 8215 Email: johnviskovich@yaffa.com.au
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MAGAZINE (ADM) is published in the second week of each month by Yaffa Media Pty Ltd
ACN 002 699 354.
17-21 Bellevue Street Surry Hills NSW 2010, Tel: (02) 9281 2333
Australian Defence Magazine also publishes the weekly newsletter ADM Today
and the Directory Industry Guide every six months.
Copyright ©2022
All material appearing in ADM is copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is not permitted without permission in writing from the publisher. The publishers accept sole responsibility for the contents of this publication, which may in no way be taken to represent the views of the Department of Defence, the Australian Defence Force or any other agency of the Commonwealth of Australia.
WHILE it’s still far too early to be drawing definitive conclusions from the tragic events in Ukraine, several things are al- ready very clear.
The first is that Ukraine could not have responded in the way that it has, for the time that it has, without material assis- tance from its friends and allies – includ- ing Australia. The war has been incredibly expensive for both sides in terms of equip- ment, supplies and manpower, and a war of attrition will inevitably favour the side with the most resilience.
So, what is resilience and – more im- portantly – what does it look like on the battlefield?
According to the Macquarie Dictionary, one meaning is: “the power of ready recov- ery” and this is something the world has seen played out in Ukraine since late Febru- ary. The rate at which ammunition is con- sumed and equipment disabled or destroyed in that conflict will need to be factored into every aspect of Defence’s future planning.
The lessons must be incorporated into everything from the Albanese Govern- ment’s promised Defence Strategic Review early next year, to strategic relationships with the US and other allies, and future acquisition programs.
In these pages you will read about the work Army is doing to potentially auto- mate its logistics chain, therefore freeing manpower for other tasks. If autonomous systems can in fact be proven to reliably fulfil these roles it will help a lot, but any logistics chain is useless if the materiel isn’t available in the first instance.
Many Defence capital acquisition pro- grams are made through the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system, which has a lot of advantages. However, one drawback is the system guarantees US forces will re- ceive support ahead of foreign customers and, in a regional peer on peer conflict, where will this leave the ADF?
A sovereign industrial capability therefore will become critical to the ADF’s resilience
on the battlefield, and this should first and foremost focus on the ability to rapidly re- place used or destroyed ammunition and equipment.
The same can be said for Australia’s on- shore fuel reserves, the paucity of which has not been lost on the US, which is con- structing a facility in the NT to hold 300 million litres – all for its own use. In a re- gional peer on peer engagement, can Aus- tralia rely on sea lanes for replenishment of its fuel stocks?
The war in Ukraine has also revealed the shortcomings of some western mili- tary equipment – at least if recent press reports are to be believed. One example is a self-propelled artillery system which has become worn out (and therefore use- less without overhaul) in a very short time, because the rates of fire required have ex- ceeded what the designers expected. Re- silience therefore needs to be designed into future military equipment from the very beginning.
Perhaps I’m merely stating the obvious here and these lessons are already being incorporated into the plans of Defence, Government and industry? Let’s hope so.
Changing tack now, welcome to the Land Warfare issue of ADM, tradition- ally our largest of the year. We hope you enjoy the many articles contained within these pages. If you take note of the by- lines, you’ll see our hardworking team has travelled far and wide to bring you these stories.
But one element largely missing is direct engagement with Defence. ADM under- stands Army was very keen to have its story told in a balanced and factual way, but for the most part our requests for engagement have been blocked, frustrated and delayed. Whether this occurred above the individual services and within the Department, or Government remains to be seen but, as I’ve written before in these pages, I look forward to more enlightened and transpar- ent times. ■