Federal politicians and experts have raised concerns over weak security vetting for political staffers as experts warn of an uptick in foreign espionage activity ahead of the next election. The head of the Office of National Intelligence told a senate estimates hearing on Wednesday Australia faces a “serious and sustainedContinue Reading
The race to build Australia’s military capability in a time of rising global instability and uncertainty will be the focus of an agenda-setting defence summit today – and you can watch it live and follow our rolling blog right here. Defending Australia, to be held in Canberra this afternoon, willContinue Reading
A United States naval vessel has become the first ever to be commissioned in Australia. The USS Canberra was commissioned in a ceremony in Sydney on Saturday, meaning it is now officially in active service. The Independence-class littoral combat ship was designed by Australian shipbuilders Austal Limited in Fremantle, WesternContinue Reading
Chinese spy ships are expected to head towards Australian waters in coming days, ahead of joint military exercises with the United States and 11 other nations. Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 officially kicked off on Friday with an opening ceremony aboard HMAS Canberra at Sydney’s Fleet Base East. But since 2017,Continue Reading
Australians have been assured that no spy balloons have been detected flying in our airspace after US President Joe Biden broke his silence on his surveillance row with China. Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australian authorities had advised him they had found no aerial surveillance vehicles such as the balloonContinue Reading
The spy balloon that flew over the United States last week was part of a “surveillance fleet” deployed by the Chinese military that has targeted more than 40 countries across five continents, a US official said on Thursday. Detailed images taken by high-altitude U2 spy planes showed the balloon’s payloadContinue Reading
The first images of debris recovered from the downed Chinese spy balloon have been released by the US Navy. An extensive operation using underwater drones, warships and inflatable vessels is currently underway to retrieve all of the pieces from the balloon, which was shot down by a US fighter jetContinue Reading
A Chinese surveillance balloon may have been a rude shock to the United States, but satellite photos reveal India is constantly under their watchful eye. Balloons are being used to hoist radars, electronic eavesdropping and reconnaissance equipment high above the Himalayas as cheap, perpetual surveillance of Indian territory. And theContinue Reading
The trade minister will soon fly to China with his sights set on lobbying Beijing to unwind sanctions on $20bn of Australian exports. China’s Commerce Minister, Wang Wentao, extended an invitation to Don Farrell during a virtual meeting of the trade ministers on Monday afternoon. While the meeting did notContinue Reading
Commercial satellites have again caught China out: this time capturing photos of hidden anti-aircraft missiles installed on its “non-militarised” South China Sea islands. Enormous engineering works began building islands out of the sandbanks and reefs of the South China Sea in 2015. At the same time, military facilities on theContinue Reading