Sovereign defence industry – a deterrent effect. Part 1: The status quo

As part of a deliberate series, Secora addresses what could become a critical shortfall in Australia’s ability to ensure our own national security.

In response to an accelerated deterioration of the Indo-Pacific’s geostrategic climate, the Federal Government has articulated that “ambitious, but necessary, reform to Defence’s posture and structure” is required to meet this challenge. As part of the response to the Defence Strategic Review (DSR), Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, has tasked Defence with producing a Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS) to align with the recommendations to the DSR.

The Government has accepted recommendations for considerable process reform across Defence, looking to move capability acquisition and management to a conflict setting. The DSR has identified two driving factors that need to be addressed as a priority: the delivery of capability within the required time; and minimum viable capability in the shortest possible time.

This new focus is set to take priority over existing processes based around project management risk, moving to a strategic risk management approach which should expedite acquisition timelines. Concerningly though, this appears to be at the cost of Australian defence industry capability.

Whilst the strategic drivers behind requirement to acquire capability quickly are clear, Australia faces a fundamental challenge that must be addressed if we are to take the long-term threats to our national security seriously. Australia lacks the credible deterrent that is inherently created through an efficient and productive sovereign defence industry.

As the government considers how to address DIDS to meet Defence’s projected capacity and capability, it must take into consideration that the ingenuity and capacity of Australia’s manufacturing and technical services sectors to rapidly deliver cutting edge capabilities. This sovereign industry capability should in fact be seen as a deterrent in and of itself.