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Ben PackhamForeign Affairs and Defence Correspondent

Ben Packham is The Australian’s foreign affairs and defence correspondent. To contact him securely use the Signal App. See his Twitter bio for details.

@bennpackham

Ben Packham

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ELECTION 2025Defence

2025 Avalon International Air Show. Tuesday Industry day. F-35A fighter in actio. Picture: David Caird

More F-35s ‘very welcome’: RAAF boss

One of the air force’s most senior commanders has approved of Peter Dutton’s pledge to buy another squadron of F-35 joint strike fighters, while dismissing rumours of a US ‘kill switch’.

Ben Packham

exclusiveDefence

MQ-28A Ghost Bat aircraft on a runway. The first military combat aircraft to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years, the MQ-28A Ghost Bat is an autonomous air vehicle intended to operate as part of an integrated system of crewed and un-crewed aircraft and space-based capabilities. Picture: Defence Imagery

Doubts over future of $1bn Ghost Bat drone

Concerns are mounting over the future of Australia’s $1bn Ghost Bat drone program as it approaches the end of its funding.

Ben Packham

defenceNation

18 March 2025; a photo comp of Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles with Australian warships in the background for the Federal Budget 2025; Artwork by Emilia Tortorella. Sources: supplied and iStock. Ratio 4:3.

Insatiable AUKUS gobbles up more funding and workforce

Defence is struggling to get new capabilities into service and keep its ageing warships and submarines in the water as the AUKUS program devours a growing share of funding.

Ben Packham

federal electionDefence

The Guardian-class Navy patrol boat RVS Takuare has been handed back to Vanuatu, after being repaired over two years by Norship Marine. Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles arrives at the official ceremony of the recommissioning of the RVS Takuare, which has undergone two years of repairs in Cairns after sustaining damage in Tropical Cyclone Kevin in March 2023. Picture: Brendan Radke

Marles’ $1bn snub to Trump on defence

The Albanese government will accelerate just $1bn worth of Defence spending in the federal budget over and above its already planned funding trajectory.

Ben Packham

exclusiveDefence

A Patriot Air and Missile Defense launcher fires an interceptor during a test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Picture: Raytheon

Labor at the double on $5bn defence boost

The Albanese government is looking at fast-tracking $5bn worth of defence spending in next week’s federal budget.

Ben Packham

EXCLUSIVENation

The EU is calling for the resumption of FTA talks with Australia.

‘No-brainer’: EU opens arms to FTA

The EU’s top diplomat in Australia says an urgent resumption of its stalled free-trade with Canberra is an obvious response to US President Donald Trump’s worldwide tariffs chaos.

Ben Packham

DEFENCEDefence

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney leaves a photo opportunity after making an announcement at a Canadian Armed Forces forward-operating location in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada trumps US in buying our $6.5bn radar system

Canada will buy the radar system from Australia after it overtook the US in negotiations in a deal that marks the biggest defence export in the nation’s history.

Rhiannon Down and Ben Packham

WAR IN GAZAWorld

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - December 6, 2024: Amir Maimon Ambassador of the State of Israel to Australia at the unveiling of a Commemorative Plaque in honour of William Cooper at the Embassy of Israel in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

Israel envoy’s pledge over Hamas hostages

Israel’s ambassador to Australia says his country will do anything in its power to bring home the last of its hostages as it pounds the Gaza Strip with airstrikes.

Ben Packham

SUB SCANDALDefence

Defence Minister Richard Marles, and Royal Australian Navy Collins-class submarines. Pictures: Martin Ollman/Newswire; Defence

Marles concedes subpar Collins refit on the cards

In a bombshell admission, Richard Marles has conceded the government is considering scaling back life-extending upgrades of the navy’s Collins-class submarines.

Ben Packham

ExclusiveNation

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Newswire Photos March 14, 2025: Shipping containers are loaded onto cargo ships in the Port of Melbourne. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

Despite PM’s vow, shipping fleet has shrunk

Anthony Albanese has been accused of failing to deliver on his 2022 election pledge to create a strategic shipping fleet, amid a warning our supply chain is perilously exposed.

Ben Packham

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