[LINK] What are the new frontiers of war?”

[Stephen Loosley]

Looks like we will have drones and autonomous vehicles in Antarctica ..

Tom writes,

>>>  Drones, and ever ’smarter’ drones are in all probability the way of
>>>  the future. ...
>
>  Yes, I coached a team of military personnel, public servants and defence
>  industry people in the RAN's Navy Warfare Innovation Workshop 2020 at
>  the Australian Defence Force Academiy. Most of the teams were working on
>  ways to use drones, but mine surprised everyone by instead coming up
>  with a way to counter swarms of drones ...
>
>  Something else Navy could do is produce the underwater equivalent of the
>  RAAF's Loyal Wingman. That is a pilot-less armed jet aircraft to be built in
>  Queensland. Designed to be relatively cheap, it would work alongside crewed
>  aircraft. Navy could have a robot submarine, big enough to cross a sea, but
>  small enough to mass produce.


Drone fleets and autonomous vehicles added to Antarctica research program

By David Crowe, February 21, 2022  https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/drone-fleets-and-autonomous-vehicles-added-to-antarctica-research-program-20220221-p59yf9.html


Australian scientists will expand the exploration of Antarctica under an $804 million federal program that will use “drone fleets” and autonomous vehicles to intensify research at a time of growing concern about Chinese and Russian activity on the continent.

The new spending will include $136.6 million for mobile stations and environment protection as well as $35 million for new helicopters to extend the reach of Australian research programs.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will commit the funding over ten years while campaigning in Tasmania on Tuesday with a pitch to voters to expect local jobs from the increase in federal spending.

The funding comes after a row last November when the federal government scrapped plans for a 2.7 kilometre concrete runway in Antarctica to make it easier to send in supplies and staff, sparking claims Australia would lose ground to other countries.

Mr Morrison will promise local procurement for the new programs so Tasmania and other parts of Australia gain from the new spending.

“The money we are investing in drone fleets, helicopters and other vehicles will enable us to explore areas of East Antarctica’s inland that no country has ever been able to reach before,” he said in a statement.

“My government will continue to back our world-class scientists and expeditioners with the necessary funding and resources because their research on the frozen continent and in the Southern Ocean is critically important to Australia’s future.

“Our ongoing investment in Antarctica will directly support jobs at home, with Australian businesses, contractors, medical suppliers and providores reaping the benefits of local procurement.”

Labor went to the last election with a promise to support research in Antarctica and an admission about the increasing influence of China in the geopolitics of the continent.

“It’s hard to think of an important issue for Australia’s future, from climate change to the future of Antarctica, where China will not be an influential actor,” former Labor leader Bill Shorten said in the run-up to the last election campaign.

Separately, the government has already committed $1.9 billion to a new icebreaker, Nuyina, which was launched in December, and accepted all the recommendations of a review into Antarctic operations in 2018, leading to the creation of the Australian Antarctic Science Council to coordinate research.

The new spending includes $136.6 million to support environmental protection, mobile stations and other measures to chart the continent, as well as $109 million for aerial operations.

(Environment Minister Sussan Ley said the Antarctic needs to be protected from exploitation.)

The programs include $60.6 million for drone fleets and autonomous vehicles that can map eastern parts of the continent that are inaccessible or considered too fragile for human exploration, with plans to set up cameras to provide real-time images.

“We need to ensure that the Antarctic remains a place of science and conservation, one that is free from conflict and which is protected from exploitation,” Environment Minister Sussan Ley said in a statement.

The helicopter project will require $35 million to provide four “medium lift” aircraft that can be launched from the Nuyina with a range of 550 kilometres, while there will be another $44.2 million for the icebreaker to conduct extended voyages.

Most of the funding is yet to be specified but is described by the government as additional funding worth a further $92.2 million each year over five years from 2026 for the Australian Antarctic Division.

The government outlined $2.2 billion for Antarctic programs in the May 2016 budget and planned for years to build a runway to allow year-round access to Davis station, but Ms Ley halted the project last year because of the ecological risk.

Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz criticised the decision at the time on the basis Australia could not afford to lose ground against others.

“At a time when China and Russia are rapidly expanding their footprints on the ice continent it is absolutely essential that we don’t loosen our foothold,” he said last November.

“We now need to invest in other strategic and capability support infrastructure to ensure the international community cannot doubt our commitment to Antarctica.”