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Buying air warfare destroyers: a strategic decision
About the author
Hugh White
Professor Hugh White AO FASSA is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra.
At $6 billion it's the biggest defence equipment decision in fifteen years, so it needs more careful consideration. In fact AWDs are far from our highest defence priority; buying them would be a mistake, and squeeze more important Air and Army capabilities. And Defence's complex new acquisition process raises real risks that, if it goes ahead, the project will run into some of the same problems that have dogged the Collins submarines. Ministers need to look carefully before signing off on it.