Originally Posted by
Lookleft
... The hope is that the current defense policy is sufficient to warn the CCP that Australia is not asleep at the wheel and that our current diplomatic position indicates that we are not easily intimidated (unless you're a Labor politician).
Absolutely - I concur.
To be clear, the likely scenario under which I see actual armed conflict happening is isolated long-range clashes.
Australia does or does not do something to which a hegemonic and aggressive China objects - and they take physical revenge at distance.
There was a very interesting line or two in the policy that seemed to allude to developing some sort of Australian SOSUS type capability.
Also that the eastern arc of JINDALEE would be expanded.
That spoke volumes in terms of the proximity of the threat to the Australian coast, and new directions it might come from.
EDIT - there's already quite a bit of hardware on the seafloor further north...
https://www.globaldefensecorp.com/20...se-submarines/