Australian air power after Afghanistan

As it happens, two crucial positives can be found.

The first is that it is extremely unlikely any Western government will allow itself to be drawn into another military quagmire for many years. Even the most obtuse politician now understands that the era has gone in which predominantly white, European, Christian armies could stampede around the world invading places their governments don’t like. If the West wishes to apply military force, a different model is needed. Which leads to the second positive.

Amidst the wreckage of those wars of invasion, Western air power has remained utterly dominant. Without exception, whenever the West has turned to its single greatest military comparative advantage, air has done the job, not only in Iraq (twice) and Afghanistan, but also in a host of other conflicts, including the Balkans (twice), Libya, and Mali. There is a message here.

If that message is to resonate anywhere, it should be in Australia. As an island continent in the southern hemisphere, Australia is purpose-designed to be defended by air. Furthermore, as a wealthy, educated, technologically-capable nation, we have the essential building blocks to support advanced air power, something very few states can do.

It is no coincidence, then, that for decades, successive Defence White Papers have stated that air defence is Australia’s most important military capability. And to give credit where it’s due, even as governments from both major parties have allowed themselves to be drawn into ill-considered wars of invasion in the alleged interest of serving the American alliance, they have simultaneously provided enough resources to ensure that since World War 2 the RAAF has been the pre-eminent air power in the Southeast Asia region.

This represents a major policy success. Notwithstanding the political and diplomatic progress of recent times – and there has been good deal in the Asia-Pacific – the world remains an uncertain place, and the capacity to directly defend one’s homeland, people, and interests from aggression remains paramount. Thus, Australians can take comfort in the fact that they are protected by Southeast Asia’s best ISR network, best air defence system, and best anti-shipping and land-strike capability.

As it happens, those same capabilities also represent Australia’s best options for supporting the American alliance, especially since the announcement of the US’s strategic ‘pivot’ towards the Asia-Pacific region, a shift motivated by the perceived need to counter-balance China’s rise. Three emerging components of the ADF’s air/maritime force structure warrant special mention.

First, the 12 new-build EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft will be unique outside the US Navy. They will be a potent force should the ADF ever have to defend Australia and they will be a first-hour of the first-day capability should the US ever request our assistance.

Second, the F-35 Lightning ISR/strike/fighters on order may be behind schedule and expensive, but their total package of capabilities will be unsurpassed in the region and they will ensure Australia retains its pre-eminent air power status. Governments of both persuasions and successive ADF leaders have shown commendable foresight holding their nerve in the face of an ill-informed campaign against the F-35. They must continue to do so for another 18 months, after which the entry of F-35s into service with the US Marines will quickly demonstrate the fifth-generation system’s exceptional suite of capabilities.

Third, the decision to issue a Letter of Request for information about the USN’s MQ-4C Triton broad-area maritime surveillance UAV indicates the penny has finally dropped in the ADF in relation to drones. The Triton – or whichever platform is eventually selected – will position Australia to remain at the forefront of advanced air power.

It may seem ironic that the key lesson to emerge from yet another failed land war concerns air power. But that shouldn’t be surprising. Australia is purpose-designed to be protected from the air and nothing that has happened in Afghanistan has changed that.