On a recent episode of ASPI’s Policy, Guns and Money podcast, analysts Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Davies debated the question of whether Australia needs an additional long-range strike capability. The issue had just been raised by two former Royal Australian Air Force chiefs, Leo Davies and Geoff Brown.
Andrew Davies asked who were going to strike, and why, and suggested that having additional strike power could get us into a dangerous situation that we might not be able to get out of. Hellyer made the case that long-range strike would raise the cost for any adversary—specifically China—that sought to operate close to Australia’s maritime and air approaches, including from facilities hosted by nations in our region.
