Australia warned it is losing drone arms race in bombshell report
The Albanese government is being urged to develop a ‘drone wall’ across northern Australia, incorporating lasers and electronic jammers to protect critical infrastructure.
The Albanese government is being urged to develop a “drone wall” across northern Australia incorporating lasers and electronic jammers to protect critical infrastructure from attack by autonomous aircraft “swarms”.
The recommendation is contained in a new report that says the Australian Defence Force risks falling behind in a new autonomous arms race unless the government ramps up its investment in low-cost drones and counter-drone systems.
The paper, by ASPI’s Malcolm Davis, says China has an advantage in developing lethal autonomous technologies because it is less constrained by legal and ethical requirements than the West.
“The challenge is to accelerate progress while still meeting those obligations,” it says.
The report argues Defence’s rollout of counter-drone systems is too slow, urging the government to emulate Ukraine’s “drone wall” that aims to destroy incoming Russian uncrewed aircraft as cheaply as possible.
It says the ADF can’t rely on “limited numbers of very expensive surface-to-air missiles to shoot down large swarms of low-cost drones”, and needs to pour greater resources into high-energy laser weapons and microwave technologies that cost $1 or less per shot.
“A drone wall would dramatically extend and strengthen the ADF’s ability to undertake a strategy of denial and be able to quickly switch from defensive to offensive deployment in order to attack adversary forces threatening Australia’s interests,” the report says.
The government says it is investing $10bn on drones over the coming decade, including at least $4.3bn on uncrewed aerial systems. It also has a $1.3bn program to acquire counter-drone systems, and is testing several technology options including a laser weapon developed by Australia’s Electro Optic Systems.
However, the paper says the government risks “moving too cautiously and too slowly”, arguing that despite experimentation with different platforms, there is no sign a wide range of capabilities is being brought into service.
It says the government’s drone investments are heavily weighted towards “limited numbers of higher-end uncrewed systems”, and it needs to boost the acquisition of large numbers of cheaper capabilities.
“Simply put, we have too few fighters, warships, submarines and ground combat platforms to stay in a high-intensity fight for an extended period. ‘Low cost, high volume, rapid acquisition’ must be the key principle for Defence if it’s to be successful in exploiting autonomous systems,” the report says.
The ADF is set to acquire dozens of Ghost Shark autonomous submarines under a $1.7bn contract with Anduril Australia, with the first due to enter service next year.
The Boeing Australia-designed Ghost Bat aerial drone is designed to operate with crewed fighter jets and is expected to receive $500m more in funding to support its further development. It is scheduled to test-fire an air-to-air missile by year’s end.
The ADF has also pledged $100m towards tactical uncrewed systems for the army’s combat brigades, and has acquired an unknown number of Switchblade 300 “loitering munitions” for frontline troops.
The ASPI report comes after senior army officers conceded the service’s new M1A2 Abrams tanks were defenceless against attacks by drones.
“The tanks as they sit today don’t have an anti-drone capacity,” Major General Richard Vagg told a Senate estimates hearing.
He said the army’s counter drone program was separate to the tanks acquisition and “not only delivering a range of sensors and effectors to counter drones, it’s also informing how we train our soldiers, aviators and sailors, to deal with drones”.
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