On Target: Go hard, or go home!
One of the themes of recent On Target columns has been how recent force structure decisions have shaped the evolution of the RAAF into a pot
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- Jul 24, 2020
- 6 min
On Target: Defending south of Australia’s ‘First Island Chain’ – Part 3
Given the geo-political changes taking place in the Indo-Pacific, perhaps it is time for Australia to focus on the preparedness of the ADF t
- Apr 30, 2020
- 3 min
On Target: Australia's First Island Chain: Part 2
Brian Weston - the growing importance of Australia's First Island Chain to Australia's national security. Part 2.
- Mar 2, 2020
- 7 min
Planning to Win: Structuring the Force – Part 2 – Gus McLachlan
MAJGEN Gus McLachlan AO (Retd) shares his thoughts on how to best approach force structure to gain a winning advantage.
- Feb 29, 2020
- 3 min
On Target: Australia's First Island Chain: Part 1
Brian Weston - continuing theme in Chinese strategic thinking is the concept of “island chains” with the First Island Chain stretching from
- Feb 23, 2020
- 7 min
Planning to Win: Structuring the Force – Part 1 – Gus McLachlan
MAJGEN Gus McLachlan AO (Retd) shares his thoughts on how to best approach force structure to gain a winning advantage.
- Dec 31, 2019
- 3 min
On Target: A Message from Beijing?
Brian Weston - the activities of 1st October 2019 had little to do with some four millennia of China’s history.."
- Oct 31, 2019
- 3 min
On Target: Similarities from 1925
Brian Weston - Williams placed emphasis on Australia’s proximity to South-east Asia and of the importance of Australia’s north
- Aug 31, 2019
- 3 min
On Target: Richard Williams and the Defence of Australia
Alan Stephens - continues the story by describing Sir Richard Williams’ strategy for defending Australia.
- Jun 30, 2019
- 4 min
On Target: 'The Birth of an Australian Air Force - Part 2'
Brian Weston - expands on the huge task Richard Williams faced when the Australian Air Force was established on 31 March, 1921 ‒ the prefix
- Apr 30, 2019
- 3 min
On Target: Who was Richard Williams?
Brian Weston - outline of who was Richard Williams, and why is there a foundation bearing his name.
- Mar 31, 2019
- 4 min
On Target: The Singapore deployment: How Australia filled the ‘East of Suez’ void
Brian Weston - announcement in 1968 that Britain would withdraw from its interests 'East of Suez' was to have long reaching consequences...
- Feb 28, 2019
- 4 min
On Target: The evolution of Butterworth - The Suez Crisis, RAAF leadership in SE Asia
Brian Weston -A national commitment of impressive proportions...led to the establishment of the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO),
- Dec 31, 2018
- 4 min
On Target: The Building of Butterworth: Australia’s Strategic Commitment to South-East Asia
Brian Weston - culmination of these developments saw, by 1959, 50% of Australia’s operational fighter force (two squadrons CAC Sabre
- Oct 31, 2018
- 4 min
On Target: RAAF Butterworth: From “Emergency” to “Strategic Reserve”
The Malayan Emergency foreshadowed the long timescales involved in conducting counter-insurgency warfare
- Sep 30, 2018
- 3 min
On Target: A War by another name: The RAAF in the Malayan Emergency – 1948 to 1960
It was the declaration, on 18 June 1948, of the commencement of the Malayan Emergency following the murder of three British estate managers
- Jul 31, 2018
- 3 min
On Target: Devotion to duty - Pilot Officer Rawdon Middleton, VC
The 11,500 men of the RAAF who fought as part of the RAF’s Bomber Command in World War II comprised only 2 per cent of all Australians who e
- Jun 30, 2018
- 3 min
On Target: The Greatest Lost Battle on the German Side: The RAAF in Bomber Command
It might seem curious, therefore, that three of the greatest battles in which Australians have fought are not acknowledged.
- May 31, 2018
- 4 min
On Target: Eighty to nil: Israel and the first networked air war
“Network-centric” warfare has become something of a cliché in advanced defence forces, especially for today’s “fifth-generation” era of capa
- Apr 30, 2018
- 3 min
On Target: Powerful friends: Surviving high-intensity warfare
It was the 19th century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, who famously remarked that in international relations there are “no eternal
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