APSNet 18 August 2010
- Junta subverts sanctions with Australian radios
- Cavalry in charge of diggers
- Troops say gear failing in war zone
- Opening salvo has a familiar ring
- Defence contract scandal widens
- China ‘extending military reach’
1. Junta subverts sanctions with Australian radios, Hamish McDonald, SMH, 2010-08-16
Burma’s army has evaded Australian government sanctions to obtain radio sets from a Perth manufacturer that allow it to scramble its communications, gaining a new advantage against domestic rebels and dissidents and possibly in its suspected covert nuclear weapons program, a British defence journal reports.
- Radio Active – Myanmar seeks communications upgrade, Jane’s Intelligence Review, 2010-08-13
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2. Cavalry in charge of diggers, Hamish McDonald, SMH, 2010-08-14
The US cavalry have ridden in to the rescue of the Australian force in Afghanistan, after the departure of the Dutch troops who were protecting them, but our strategic and military circles don’t know whether to be relieved or worried. Some are outraged.
- Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan, ABC, 2010-08-14
- Casualties – ADF, Australia in Afghanistan, Nautilus Institute
3. Troops say gear failing in war zone, Linton Besser and Dan Oakes, Age, 2010-08-18
Soldiers in Afghanistan have complained that their government-issued equipment is failing during firefights with the Taliban and putting them in at risk of injury or death. Leaked Defence Department documents reveal that four official complaints have been received from the Middle East and from training bases in Australia about the standard-issue ammunition pouches soldiers must use.
4. Opening salvo has a familiar ring, Dan Oakes, SMH, 2010-08-17
Labor will spend an extra $21 million on care for soldiers wounded in Afghanistan, while the Coalition says it will guarantee free health and dental care to all Defence Force members and their dependents. These were two of a slim list of new promises made by the government and opposition yesterday as they launched their defence policies.
- Foreign policy falls flat in campaign, Michael Fullilove, Australian, 2010-08-12
5. Defence contract scandal widens, Richard Baker, Age, 2010-08-18
A $90 million Australian Defence Force contracting scandal has taken a new twist, with the revelation a Brisbane aviation company and a consultant at the centre of a Defence Department inquiry worked together to win a contract from the Danish military.
6. China ‘extending military reach’, Al Jazeera, 2010-08-17
China has increased spending on its military and expanded the reach of its military operations abroad, according to a new report from the US defence department. The report, an annual study sent to the US congress, estimated China’s military spending in 2009 at $150bn, an increase of roughly 7.5 per cent from the previous year.
- Military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China 2010, Annual Report to Congress, Office of the Secretary of Defence, 2010
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