Today
Military veteran Johnston rises in Defence shake-up
Bedding down AUKUS and recruiting new personnel are key challenges for the new Defence chief amid warnings China will be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.
- Andrew Tillett
Yesterday
China lashes joint war games involving Australia
As AUKUS members prepare to open talks with Japan on joining the pact, China warned against “provocative” destabilisation in the South China Sea.
- Andrew Tillett
Albanese leaves door open to cutting support for Israel
The government has appointed former defence chief Mark Binskin to scrutinise Israel’s investigation into the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.
- Andrew Tillett
This Month
It’s Hanwha against the hawks in race for shipbuilder Austal
The Korean conglomerate has made the news plenty of times before and not always in a positive light. Now it wants Australia’s largest defence group.
- Kylar Loussikian
Outcome of China-US great power rivalry uncertain, says Marles
The defence minister also said Labor had inherited a situation where Defence had no money for more than a quarter of what it planned to buy or deliver.
- Andrew Tillett
AUKUS subs construction delayed by years: US Navy
Construction of the nuclear-powered submarines Australia is supposed to buy in the early 2030s is running late by up to three years, a review has shown.
- Matthew Cranston
Sinodinos rockets into corporate world
The former ambassador and minister will chair a Brisbane aerospace company developing superfast rockets for the US.
- Andrew Tillett
Christopher Pyne emerges as Hanwha’s man in Canberra
The Korean conglomerate has lobbed a $1 billion bid for ASX-listed Austal. The local shipbuilder has rejected the offer, saying it won’t be approved.
- Kylar Loussikian
Austal’s long-serving chairman weighs retirement as bids land
Multimillionaire John Rothwell founded the Forrest family-backed shipbuilder in the 1980s and has been at the helm since.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Australia locks in $1b defence deal with Germany
The manufacturing deal will create at least 600 jobs in Queensland but was thrown into doubt last year after Labor snubbed the company involved for its own defence contract.
- Updated
- Hannah Wootton
- Updated
- Austal Limited
South Korea’s Hanwha a ‘credible buyer’ for shipbuilder Austal
The ASX-listed group has rejected a bid from the defence and aerospace conglomerate after warning it would probably fail to gain required government approvals.
- Updated
- Kylar Loussikian and Tom Rabe
March
Meet Australia’s version of James Bond’s Q
After a stellar career as an academic researcher, Professor Tanya Monro now heads Canberra’s top-secret Defence Science and Technology Group.
- Julie Hare
Japan approves plan to sell fighter jets to other nations
Japan has long restricted arms exports under the country’s pacifist constitution, but has taken steps to deregulate amid rising regional and global tensions.
- Mari Yamaguchi
- Exclusive
- Russia-Ukraine war
‘I would go tomorrow’: MPs fear veto on Ukraine trip
Overly cautious bureaucrats could stop senior politicians from taking up an invitation to visit war-torn Kyiv.
- Andrew Tillett
‘Dangerous world’: AUKMIN talks call out Chinese coercion
Security in the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic regions are inseparable, Australian and British ministers say.
- Updated
- Andrew Tillett
- Analysis
- AUKUS
Rule Britannia: How Australia’s military future relies on one UK firm
In naming BAE Systems as the builder of Australia’s submarines, the Albanese government is putting its major shipbuilding eggs in the British defence giant’s basket.
- Andrew Tillett
Australia to spend $5b on UK subs in AUKUS pact
Taxpayers will give the UK government almost $5 billion to subsidise an expansion of British production lines for Australia’s first nuclear-powered submarines.
- Andrew Tillett
Australia joins ‘Drone Coalition’ to help Ukraine fight Russia
Defence will also upgrade ties with the British military, as uncertainty grows over America’s commitment to the war.
- Andrew Tillett
Hot defence stock Electro Optic Systems seeks $40m in equity raise
The company’s shares have jumped 100 per cent this year and 362 per cent over the past 12 months. It was wall crossing fund managers on Tuesday night.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Exclusive
- AUKUS
Australia should be talking to Trump about AUKUS: ex-security chief
The former chief of the US National Security Agency under Donald Trump believes the former US president can be convinced to back AUKUS.
- Andrew Tillett
