Quote:
Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl
Oh! I just thought of a great reason someone might want to conquer Australia; Just think of all the criminals you could store there!  |
Been there done that.
Back on topic though are we under defended? Probably but that depends on the threats we are facing. With the exception of Indonesia none of our very near neighbours has a significant fighting force of their own and largely rely on Australian forces to help them out when they need assistance: East Timor, Solomons etc. So looking at the threats being posed at the moment I'd say we are not underdefended.
Given the small population and the large land mass, we could nver properly defend all of our territory against a determined foe.
We spend about 2% of GDP on defense which puts us 13th in the world for military spending and 68th in terms of spending as a % of GDP.
What irks me is when the guys in charge of spending the money screw up:
Collins class subs systems and marine engineering that took years to fix and screwed the reputation of the subs for some years beyond the fixes.
Sea Sprite Helo's which have not worked since they were bought in 1997 (first one delivered in 2003) and we are now in negotiations to end the contract which wasn't going to get a fully operational helo until some time in 2010!
The cost of new Tiger helicopters went from $500 million to $1 billion, and new Aegis destroyers are going from $3 billion to $6 billion. This is real money. My money and I want value for it not fluff and screw ups that take years to fix!
And the government is talking tough about cutting spending.
http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/...-spending.aspx