Assessing Australia’s Air Force One options

As the Indo-Pacific region becomes ever more uncertain, Stephen Kuper examines how the RAAF could upgrade the PM’s secure travel

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Prestige, authority and presence – for many, these are the words they associate with the world’s famous VIP airlift aircraft, Air Force One. As Australia’s regional threats evolve and our strategic capabilities with them, is it time for our prime minister to have an equally connected, survivable, and recognisable ride? First, as it stands, there are far higher priorities for Australia’s defence and strategic planners, their force structure and acquisition plans – capabilities including an expanded airlift and air combat capability, enhanced long-range strike, and nuclear submarines. The list is virtually endless.

As is the nature of contemporary tactical and strategic operations, whether at home or abroad, this mesh of sensors and effectors will all require a resilient, survivable, and adaptable command and control infrastructure, with the buck, ultimately stopping with the prime minister – no matter the actual institutional structures and organs at the functional level, the public perception is and will remain that the prime minister is the nation’s ultimate decision-maker.