AUKUS Pillar 1 is running on Australian cash and undeliverable promises
AUKUS Pillar 1 is running on Australian cash and undeliverable promises
Peter Briggs

AUKUS Pillar 1 is running on Australian cash and undeliverable promises

Australia is pouring billions into US and UK submarine industries while both countries struggle to meet their own naval needs. The risk is that AUKUS leaves Australia without the submarines it was promised.

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Australian island base's hidden US military role

Runway extensions, new military infrastructure and US planning are transforming the Cocos Islands into a strategically important forward operating base, with little public debate about the role Australia is assuming in a future conflict with China.

The great AUKUS deception: Australia pays to defend America
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AUKUS

The great AUKUS deception: Australia pays to defend America

AUKUS has been sold as a plan to strengthen Australia’s defence. Its deeper purpose is to bind Australia permanently into US military strategy against China and make American security dependent on Australian participation.

Trump-Xi summit exposes Tokyo’s vulnerability
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Trump invoked Pearl Harbor with Japan, then celebrated America’s wartime alliance with China days later. The sequence exposes uncomfortable questions about Tokyo’s reliance on Washington, and Australia’s own assumptions about US security guarantees.

Why Britain cannot deliver SSN-AUKUS on schedule
Peter Briggs

AUKUS

Why Britain cannot deliver SSN-AUKUS on schedule

Britain says SSN-AUKUS remains on track. But its shipyards are already stretched while new reactor and workforce capacity is still being built. Australia is betting heavily on that gap being closed in time.

If we asked the Americans to leave, would they?
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If we asked the Americans to leave, would they?

Canada is looking for ways to protect its independence from Washington. Australia has embedded itself so deeply in the US military system that it risks being drawn into America’s next war – whether we choose it or not.

Korean submarines may save us from the AUKUS shambles
Kym Davey

Korean submarines may save us from the AUKUS shambles

Canada’s decision to acquire conventionally powered submarines raises a question for Australia’s AUKUS program. Could South Korea’s KSS-III offer a more affordable and timely alternative to the planned nuclear-powered fleet?

Albanese, AUKUS and the broken promise on nuclear weapons
Tilman Ruff

Albanese, AUKUS and the broken promise on nuclear weapons

As Albanese receives an international award for his leadership on security, Australia remains outside the nuclear weapons ban treaty he once championed. Meanwhile, expanding US military access raises new questions about Australia’s exposure to nuclear conflict.

Is Australia’s military still a political sacred cow?
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Is Australia’s military still a political sacred cow?

The military’s standing in Australian public life has become more complicated, but recent controversies involving One Nation and veterans’ healthcare show that military service continues to command considerable political respect.

AUKUS assurances collide with the reality of Britain’s submarine fleet
Peter Briggs

AUKUS

AUKUS assurances collide with the reality of Britain’s submarine fleet

British officials insist AUKUS remains on track, but serious pressures across UK submarine availability, design and reactor production – alongside continuing US shipyard delays – raise questions about the assumptions underpinning Australia’s nuclear submarine plan.

AUKUS makes a US-China war more likely
Albert Palazzo

AUKUS makes a US-China war more likely

By giving the United States greater military access to Australia, AUKUS has changed the strategic geography of any future conflict with China – and may have increased both the likelihood of war and Australia’s chances of being drawn into it.

Disturbing admissions from US Republican Congressman
Paul Keating

AUKUS

Disturbing admissions from US Republican Congressman

US submarines at HMAS Stirling, B-52 rotations through Tindal and deepening military integration are tying Australia ever more closely to US strategic priorities – including the prospect of war with China over Taiwan, Paul Keating writes.

Funding crisis leaves UN nuclear watchdog begging for resources
John Tilemann, John Carlson

Funding crisis leaves UN nuclear watchdog begging for resources

The International Atomic Energy Agency faces a serious funding crisis as major contributors delay payments, putting nuclear safeguards, safety and security work at risk and exposing deeper problems with how the agency is financed.

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All earlier articles in Defence (2552 more)

DateTitleAuthor
18 Jul 2026How big is the wolf? China in the PacificJocelyn Chey
16 Jul 2026Australia's new architecture in the Pacific should include ChinaRonald C. Keith
9 Jul 2026The hypersonic hypocrisy of Pacific nuclear politicsJeremy Rose
9 Jul 2026Defence policy deserves more than slogans and selective historyPaddy Gourley
9 Jul 2026Diversifying the critical minerals supply chainMarina Yue Zhang
8 Jul 2026Australia should take another look at France’s nuclear submarinesPeter Briggs
27 Jun 2026Fraser, Whitlam, Albanese and national sovereigntyJohn Menadue
25 Jun 2026We are spending billions on war and pennies on peaceAndrew Hassett
24 Jun 2026The AUKUS mirage: why Australia needs a pragmatic pivot to Plan BPeter Briggs
19 Jun 2026The tragedy of AUKUSJoseph Camilleri
19 Jun 2026The questions Hanson was not made to answerAlison Broinowski
17 Jun 2026AUKUS and democracy: why both matterLeanne Minshull
16 Jun 2026The case against the AUKUS submarine projectGareth Evans
13 Jun 2026Hanson, Morrison and Trump: lies, fear, and how to fight back – Message from the EditorCatriona Jackson
12 Jun 2026AUKUS and the case for no submarinesMike Gilligan
12 Jun 2026Trump goes shopping in the US Indian Ocean Island chainAlison Broinowski
11 Jun 2026Technology unravels strategy and the weakness of AUKUSDerek Woolner, David Glynne Jones
10 Jun 2026The Kentucky colonel who drives Australian foreign policyKym Davey
9 Jun 2026Undersea warfare is moving faster than AUKUSDerek Woolner, David Glynne Jones
6 Jun 2026That sinking feeling – Message from the EditorCatriona Jackson
4 Jun 2026The Virginia-class submarine deal exposes the real purpose of AUKUSMike Gilligan
3 Jun 2026Second-hand submarines: a sovereign flawPeter Briggs
30 May 2026Middle-power diplomacyYoshihide Soeya
23 May 2026Our intelligence services need to break free from excessive US influenceJohn Menadue
15 May 2026Lifting the secrecy around plans to censor journalistsWilliam Evans
13 May 2026Is Australia America’s 51st state in Asia?James Curran
11 May 2026Australia's naval defence without AUKUS pillar oneMichael Keating, Jon Stanford
6 May 2026The BYD 'spy car' narrative misses Australia’s real transport riskFred Zhang
6 May 2026Australia’s resilience is inseparable from AsiaMainul Haque
4 May 2026Nuclear disarmament is stalling – and the risks are growingTilman Ruff
1 May 2026Contracting strategy to think tanks: catering to America’s fantasies of even more warMichael McKinley
29 Apr 2026Recapturing the decency dimension of Australian foreign policyGareth Evans
28 Apr 2026Australia's foreign policy needs renovation, not demolitionPeter Varghese
28 Apr 2026Australia and Japan need a new compact for comprehensive securityShiro Armstrong, Tomohiko Satake
28 Apr 2026ANZAC Day: remembering the past, facing the presentMeg Schwarz
26 Apr 2026Geography doesn’t change, but minds canMark Beeson
21 Apr 2026Labor’s foreign policy no longer matches the world it facesKym Davey
21 Apr 2026New detection tech could make AUKUS submarines obsoleteJohn Queripel
20 Apr 2026Plan B: insulating ourselves from the USJohn Menadue
20 Apr 2026AUKUS and the sunk cost trap beneath the surfaceStewart Sweeney
9 Apr 2026Ben Roberts‑Smith is accused of five war crime murder charges. How did we get here?Paul Taucher, Dean Aszkielowicz
9 Apr 2026The world is drifting towards a new nuclear arms raceConnie Peck
1 Apr 2026The legal logic behind Israel and Iran’s nuclear divideCatherine Maia
1 Apr 2026The legal logic behind Israel and Iran’s nuclear divideCatherine Maia
30 Mar 2026Iran’s target list: taking the war to multinationalsEugene Doyle
27 Mar 2026Does Iran already have a nuclear deterrent?Julian Cribb
25 Mar 2026Crippling or buttressing Iran’s nuclear ambition – Part 2Ramesh Thakur
24 Mar 2026The lies that fuel warDavid Shoebridge
23 Mar 2026Australia’s dangerous blind spot in Southeast AsiaMichael Wesley
23 Mar 2026Australia’s six pathways to the war with Iran: Part 2Richard Tanter
21 Mar 2026Australia’s six pathways to the war with Iran: Part 1Richard Tanter
19 Mar 2026AI's inclination to 'go nuclear'Connie Peck
18 Mar 2026AUKUS: So many questions, so few answersDoug Cameron
12 Mar 2026Off to war in West Asia we go (again)Cameron Leckie
12 Mar 2026How US bases make Australia part of the Iran warPeter Cronau
10 Mar 2026A vessel of lies: Australian sailors implicated in the Iran WarBinoy Kampmark
6 Mar 2026Australia needs to read its own geographyRaghid Nahhas
26 Feb 2026How consultocracy became a national security blind spotTom Sinkovits
19 Feb 2026How the United States built the world’s biggest military machineWarwick Powell
19 Feb 2026The world is drifting back towards unconstrained nuclear dangerMarianne Hanson
18 Feb 2026Will Japan’s remilitarisation drag us into a war?Eugene Doyle
16 Feb 2026Handshake diplomacy with Prabowo won’t secure shared valuesDuncan Graham
10 Feb 2026India’s submarine deal shows what due diligence looks likeJohn Queripel
7 Feb 2026Australia unlikely to follow US downgrade on China threatMarcus Reubenstein
4 Feb 2026AUKUS from where we are – and why that’s the problemCrispin Hull
3 Feb 2026Plan B: towards an Australian model of military self-relianceTom Sinkovits
2 Feb 2026Australia’s Trump reprieve masks a deeper strategic dilemmaJames Curran
30 Jan 2026NATO is failing – and ANZUS is nextAllan Behm
29 Jan 2026The end of the lucky country’s security fantasyAllan Patience
27 Jan 2026Trump’s Greenland grab is part of a new space race – and the stakes are getting higherAnna Marie Brennan
26 Jan 2026Trump, Greenland and Australia’s alliance reality checkJohn McCarthy
26 Jan 2026Beyond the ruptured alliance: an outline for Plan BMichael McKinley
22 Jan 2026AUKUS: a continuing expensive delusionJohn Queripel
20 Jan 2026Trump and Putin can still save the last nuclear arms limitConnie Peck
16 Jan 2026Best of 2025 - Another RSL dope wants to draw us into a major warPaul Keating
14 Jan 2026Why Australia should walk away from AUKUSGareth Evans
12 Jan 2026Best of 2025 - Ignorance is complicity: Australia must end its arms trade with those committing crimesRayana Ajam
9 Jan 2026Best of 2025 - Disengaging from the dangerous allianceMichael McKinley
8 Jan 2026Best of 2025 - What game is he playing? The PM and AUKUSRobert Macklin
6 Jan 2026Best of 2025 - Brave new worldJohn McCarthy
6 Jan 2026Best of 2025 - Sustaining hope when war is normalisedStephanie Dowrick
5 Jan 2026Best of 2025 - Chasing a chimera: The political dream of AUKUS that consumes realityAllan Behm
22 Dec 20252025 in Review: The fading West, a cautious Labor win and an uncertain worldJohn Menadue
17 Dec 2025AUKUS meets reality – UK ‘all in’ a mess (Part 2)Peter Briggs
16 Dec 2025AUKUS meets reality – what's not in the AUSMIN Media Release (Part 1)Peter Briggs
5 Dec 2025A Boyer Lecture that misunderstands Australia’s defence historyMike Gilligan
21 Nov 2025US alliance holding us backBevan Ramsden
20 Nov 2025Australians are markedly more worried about the US, but still wary about ChinaElena Collinson
18 Nov 2025Nuclear testing threatens global stabilityJohn Tilemann, John Carlson
14 Nov 2025In Ukraine’s Pokrovsk, narratives have collided with brutal realitiesEugene Doyle
13 Nov 2025Another RSL dope wants to draw us into a major warPaul Keating
10 Nov 2025The defence mythTony Smith
10 Nov 2025Arms industry infiltrates National Press ClubMichelle Fahy
8 Nov 2025Revealed: Secret plans to introduce media censorship in AustraliaWilliam Evans
31 Oct 2025South Korea, Canada and a middle-power submarine: Can Australia join?Jeffrey Robertson
29 Oct 2025The unvanquished will: Gaza’s triumph of spirit against the architecture of genocideRamzy Baroud
28 Oct 2025It's no longer possible to be a Palestinian in the West BankGideon Levy
28 Oct 2025More defence spending, please – just not on the militaryBrian Martin
25 Oct 2025Indonesia’s security depends on educating the minds behind its machinesKurniawan Arif Maspul
22 Oct 2025Readying the north for warHenry Reynolds

See the complete index — all 2602 articles in Defence