Australia’s declared strategy of denial needs to become effective long before the powerful new nuclear submarines become meaningfully effective in the 2040s.
This can be done in the 2030s with what I have called the Joint Architecture for Forward Denial. The concept, set out in full in a separate study, would comprise an independent Australian targeting network, massed ground-based long-range strike weapons and resilient northern operating bases.
The idea stems from two changes in warfare. First, surface ships can no longer hide on the oceans. Growing numbers of synthetic-aperture radar and passive electromagnetic-sensing satellites in low orbit pass over the world’s oceans quite often enough to detect ships. Second, long-range precision strike is becoming much cheaper.
by The Strategist – How Australia can execute its denial strategy long before SSNs arrive
