Today
- Exclusive
- Defence spending
Australia needs to arm up by late 2026: Hastie
If he becomes defence minister after the next election, Andrew Hastie will move to rapidly acquire new weapons amid warnings of possible conflict with China in 2027.
- Andrew Tillett
Yesterday
- Opinion
- AUKUS
Albanese is losing the AUKUS debate
The government is prioritising platitudes over substance as critics question the $368 billion nuclear submarine project.
- James Curran
This Month
Marles denies sinister meaning in AUKUS ‘political commitments’
The new AUKUS treaty does not lock Australia into accepting nuclear waste from the US and UK, or commit to joining a war over Taiwan.
- Updated
- Andrew Tillett
- Opinion
- Opinion
Next AUSMIN needs to turn alignment into outcomes
This year’s ministerial consultations moved away from defence announcements. But progress on many key initiatives is yet to deliver tangible results.
- Jennifer Parker
Talks sanction more US bombers, fighter jets, spy planes in Australia
Annual defence and foreign affairs talks will see Australia deepen its role as the US’s “unsinkable aircraft carrier” in a potential conflict with China.
- Andrew Tillett and Matthew Cranston
Beazley names state ‘most vulnerable and worthwhile’ to attack
The former defence minister says a nuclear submarine is vital to protecting the resources industry, urging an even harder line on blocking Chinese investment in critical minerals.
- Brad Thompson
- Exclusive
- AUKUS
Powerful Republicans back AUKUS under Trump
Australia will have sovereignty over US nuclear-powered submarines it buys under the AUKUS pact if Donald Trump is elected president, two senators told the AFR.
- Matthew Cranston
Aid workers still at risk after Australian’s death: report
A former military chief says Israel should formally apologise and offer compensation to victims of bungled drone strike after serious failures by soldiers.
- Andrew Tillett
- Exclusive
- Defence spending
Prominent think tank fears the loss of its ‘superpower’
The rarefied world of public intellectuals and scholars is braced for a bombshell following a government review into think tank funding.
- Emma Connors
July
- Exclusive
- Defence spending
The ‘criminal price tag’ for the navy’s new warships is $4b a pop
A new fleet of frigates will cost almost $4 billion each, even before weapons are fitted, it can be revealed, making them the navy’s most expensive warship.
- Andrew Tillett
Alceon PE secures 70pc stake in defence contractor Shadbolt
It was most recently staffed on 150-year-old German shipbuilder Luerssen’s team for the Royal Australian Navy’s order of SEA 1180 offshore patrol vessels.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Exclusive
- AUKUS
Submariner in charge of AUKUS says the debate is being hijacked
Navy chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond has offered a fierd defence of the big-money nuclear-powered submarine pact in an interview with AFR Weekend.
- Andrew Tillett
- Exclusive
- AUKUS
‘Show me the evidence’: AUKUS tsar challenges critics
Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead says there will be setbacks but Australia is on track to meet key milestones under AUKUS.
- Andrew Tillett
PsiQuantum promises US a computer after $US500m investment
Three months after inking almost $1 billion worth of deals with the federal and Qld governments, the tech start-up has signed up to build another quantum computer in Chicago.
- Paul Smith
Accident puts war crimes judge in wheelchair
The severe injuries sustained by Mark Weinberg, KC, are a blow to the Office of the Special Investigator into war crimes in Afghanistan.
- Michael Pelly
- Opinion
- Opinion
There’s no point dwelling on AUKUS paths not taken
The submarine project needs more constructive criticism, and less grievance from those whose preferences were not followed.
- Justin Burke
Air force officials rebuff concerns over slow pace of missile defence
Military experts have warned Australia is not moving quickly enough to be able to defend itself against missile strikes amid lessons from Ukraine and Israel.
- Andrew Tillett
The battle for Australia’s new submarines
A new book reveals the problems Australian political and military leaders faced in making the most important naval acquisition in a generation.
- Andrew Fowler
Britain still good for delivery of AUKUS subs, Marles says
The defence minister has rushed to Britain to reassure himself that the new Labour government is up to the challenge of developing a new nuclear-powered fleet.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Allies rally in show of force against China sabre-rattling
The latest Pitch Black exercises over the Northern Territory involve at least 4000 personnel and 140 aircraft from 20 countries, including the Philippines and PNG for the first time.
- Kat Wong
