Experts Question Defence Priorities & Preparedness
Media Release by RSL Australia
Leading Defence experts have questioned Australia’s preparedness to fulfil our international treaty obligations and the ability of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to meet current and potential future missions.
In an extensive commentary, former Army Chief, retired Lieutenant General Peter Leahy and John Powers, a retired senior United States Special Forces and Intelligence Officer, submit that the ADF is stretched too thin, not fit for immediate combat and is unlikely to be in better shape for some time.
Both General Leahy and John Powers are members of the Returned & Services League of Australia’s (RSL) Defence and National Security Committee.
They write that Australia shares a long and proud history of strategic and military cooperation with the United States and the demands of the AUKUS agreement mean that we must be ready to fight on shared battlefields in the Indo-Pacific. But they question Australia’s current preparedness.
“While Australia is nearly always the junior partner, we have been valued for our willingness to fight the good fight. As a result, we have a seat at the top table,” they write.
“Not all nations are treated like us. In the battlefield vernacular we have been appreciated as ‘swimmers’ in a large pool of ‘non-swimmers’.”
But they write that fighting spirit can only take you so far. To win in battle you need real capabilities designed and prepared for the task at hand, must overmatch enemy capabilities, and be prepared to fight at short notice.
“Recently, there has been a lot of criticism about the quantity, readiness and robustness of Australia’s military capabilities.
“Yes, we can fight smart and be prepared for new battles in grey zones, cyber and space. But in the end war is about combat power, where air, ground and naval forces seek out an enemy and kill or capture him, seize and hold ground and repel attacks.
“Much of the criticism of the immediate state of the ADF is well founded and points to a force that is not fit for immediate combat and won’t be in better shape for some time. This is a significant strategic risk.
“It is OK for politicians to take risks and deny or delay the funding and development of a robust force for our next battles. They won’t be in the front lines facing the prospect of death or injury. It will be our soldiers, sailors and aviators who will be lumped with the risk. This is not an esoteric political discussion; it is a life-or-death reality.”
General Leahy and John Powers say testimony from the recent Defence Estimates revealed that Australia’s military has a lack of long-range fire systems and armoured vehicles, a paucity of live-fire training, insufficient maintenance funding, personnel and ammunition shortages, supply-chain fissures and a massive infrastructure backlog.
“There was a time our ‘niche’ defence force was structured and equipped for regional and disaster relief contingencies. Regrettably, those days have passed. We are a liability to ourselves and a strategic liability to our allies.
“To be a viable force today, the ADF must be a robust and capable force, and this requires an immediate modernisation, readiness and recruitment effort.
“Government must restore the ADF’s combat readiness to deter and defend us now rather than putting it off into the future. If it does not, we will remain a strategic liability to ourselves and our allies – possibly losing not just the first battles but the war,” they write.
