
A Fistful of Dollars: the Changing Paradigm of the PMSC and Mercenary in the Modern Battlespace
‘[Mercenaries] disunited, ambitious, without discipline, unfaithful; gallant among friends, vile among enemies; no fear of God, no faith with men.’
— Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

Victory in the Age of Cyber-Enabled Warfare
Future conflicts will not be won in cyberspace, but they can most certainly be lost there.

Operations in deception: corrupting the sensing grid of the enemy
Fooling the enemy’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) artificial intelligence system will be as critical as refining our own in a live situation. AI is the future, but it has its vulnerabilities.

Countering Robotics and Autonomous Systems through Maritime Area Denial
Muddying the waters acoustically will be equally important as guided munitions when it comes to underwater mine warfare in the new age of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS). Let’s look at both the kinetic and the non-kinetic approaches.

Synchronising Counterinsurgency Ops with Effective Intelligence
All combat operations need real-time, concrete intelligence, but the counterinsurgency operations’ (COINOPS) margin of error runs thinnest. In their fast, multidimensional context, COINOPS demand more comprehensive intelligence at platoon/company levels than conventional warfare does. This article explores the need for tactical unit leaders fighting insurgencies to have more intelligence assets available in the field in order to offer swift analyses to aid decision making in highly fluid environments.

Future War – A Trinitarian Framework
In grappling with the future of war and warfare it is useful to have a mental framework to consider the potential impacts of the matters at issue. In considering futures those matters range widely from large scale societal changes through to narrower next generation technological advances that continue the service of legacy fleets.

US Marine Corps to Re-Focus on Sea Control
The US Marine Corps has just released its new Commandant’s Guidance, foreshadowing a return to their traditional role of supporting the Navy’s fight for Sea Control now that it is being increasingly challenged. There are valuable insights for the ADF in understanding this fundamental shift in US Marine Corps thinking.

Future Workforce 2025 - Scherger Group
Compiled by Wing Commander Jo Brick 1

Developing the Coalition – Can We Do More?
The aim of this paper is to provide insights into why preparing and developing a coalition environment is important for the ADF; what are the challenges that a coalition presents; and offer some recommendations on how the ADF might better prepare for the multilateral operations.

Human Development at ADFA
The talk emphasises the need for a comprehensive development of staff, including aspects such as Cognitive, Social, Psychological, Physical and Social. Professional development is incomplete without personal development.

Military Education Institutions as Think Tanks
On leveraging the talented staff and students at military education institutions to think about future force designs and operating concepts.

Capability Boost: Trials Demonstrate Enhanced ViDAR/ScanEagle Package
This article from Jane’s International Defence Review discusses the use of Visual Detection and Ranging (ViDAR) technology on the ScanEagle unmanned aerial system (UAS) platform to provide detection capabilities comparable to radar using Electrooptical (EO) and Infra Red (IR) sensors.