News, Articles and Comment

Ed. The independent researcher provides a unique and comprehensive, based on open-source intelligence and source-audited, order of battle and assessment of deployability for the Russian Submarine Service. Now available in the NR‘s Briefing Room.

Ed. The author’s call for resilience with respect to coastal navigation support. Hormuz has shown the vulnerability but there are other emerging challenges to chokepoints like our own Dover Strait. First published in The House Magazine, May 2026. A 5 minute read.

Ed. The vast population of this ‘sceptred isle’ is ‘sea blind’ or, if you prefer, ‘maritime illiterate’. We should acknowledge this as the steady state and the only thing that could change one’s appreciation would be total war.

Ed. Rear Admiral James Goldrick AO CSC RAN (Retired) (1958–2023) was a towering figure in Australian and international naval thought – a commander at sea and ashore, a scholar of maritime history, and a teacher whose influence reshaped generations of naval professionals. His life’s work bridged the helm and the classroom, the bridge and the seminar room, the Royal Australian Navy, and its partners around the world. Given the breadth of his influence across command, education, and maritime thought, this volume seeks to consolidate and extend that legacy through critical reflection.

Dear Keir, This is a letter I never expected to write, and I do so now with great regret and […]

Ed. The author examines the state-of-the-art with regard to Polar icebreaker investment and development, and considers the relative cost for future RN procurement in increasingly competitive theatres. A 30 minute read.

Ed. The author connects Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) with Critical International Infrastructure (CII) in making the case for the reciprocal relationship between international trade and defence of the realm. A 10 minute read.

Ed. The practitioner author paints a stark picture of a casualty-intensive opening phase of a near-future Pacific war, employing lessons from the Second World War to argue that depth of capability must be actualised today. Originally published in the USNI’s Proceedings, April 2026. A 10 minute read.

Ed. The author considers RN readiness from the perspective of Military Aid to Civilian Authorities (MACA). As crises accumulate, the temptation to employ the RN to respond where civilian institutions lack support can erode warfighting capacity. A 15 minute read.