Why Australia Should Rethink Its Defence Procurement Post-Pandemic

If supply chains for critical health products needed for survival can be switched off like a tap, are we comfortable leaving our defence procurement subject to the same volatility? That is particularly crucial as we face an increasingly unstable Indo-Pacific region, as well as rapid advancements in technological capabilities for warfighting that provide every potential adversary agility and unpredictability.

The government has recognised the risks inherent in global defence supply chains and, encouragingly, sovereign industrial capability features at the forefront of the Australian Defence Force’s capability strategy and force structure planning for the next decade. However, to claim that it is a reality in Australia today is premature at best. And our continued overreliance on foreign defence ‘primes’ is a major strategic oversight. It is long past time we rectified this.

Read the full article at the Strategist.