1st Edition

Australian Perspectives on Global Air and Space Power Past, Present, Future

Edited By Nicole Townsend, Kus Pandey, Jarrod Pendlebury Copyright 2023
250 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

250 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

250 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book surveys historical and emerging global air and space power issues and provides a multidisciplinary understanding of the application of air and space power in the past and present, while exploring potential future challenges that global air forces may face. Bringing together leading and emerging academics, professionals, and military personnel from Australia within the field of air and... Read more

Introduction: An Australian Perspective on Air and Space Power

Nicole Townsend

Part One: Historical Perspectives

1. Military Aviation in the British Dominions before the First World War

Dr Michael Molkentin

2. The Australian Prisoner of War Experience in Stalag Luft III, 1942–45

Dr Kristen Alexander

3. Sir James Rowland and the Changing Strategic Use of Air Power in Australia, 1942–1979

Dr Peter Yule and Nicole Townsend

4. Australian Air Power Strategy, Technologies, and Counter-insurgency in Malaya during the Cold War

Dr Peter Hunter

Part Two: Identity and Culture

5. The Importance of Asking Why the Royal Australian Air Force Exists

Air Commodore Jason Begley and Wing Commander Travis Hallen

6. Identity as a Gatekeeper in Western Air Forces

Dr Jarrod Pendlebury

7. The RAAF and the Tyranny of Training

Professor Tom Frame

Part Three: Technology and Air Power

8. Human, Organisational, and Technological Lessons from Air Power and Joint Operations in Major Conflict

Dr Charles Vandepeer

9. The Privatisation of Air Power

Dr Peter Layton

10. Hypersonic Propulsion as an Air Power Disruption or Disturbance

Squadron Leader Michael Spencer

11. Military Culture and Resistance to Technical Innovation

Air Commodore Matt Hegarty, CSC

12. Rubbery Assumptions: Anti-G Suits and Air Power in the Second World War

Peter Hobbins

Part Four: Air and Space Power in the 21st Century

13. Ethics, Strategy, and Australian Air Power in the 21st Century

Dr Deane-Peter Baker

14. Manoeuvre in the 21st Century

Group Captain Jo Brick

15. An Overview of Australian Space Power, from Desert Rockets to New Beginnings

Amy Hestermann-Crane

Part Five: Future Directions

16. Can the ADF become the Most Uncrewed and Autonomy-enabled Defence Force in the World?

Wing Commander Keirin Joyce, CSC

17. Space Power and the Vulnerabilities of Satellites

Flying Officer James-Andre Galam

18. Considering the Effects of Disruptive Technologies on Air and Space Power

Lieutenant Chris Wooding

Conclusion

Dr Jarrod Pendlebury

Biography

Nicole Townsend is currently completing a PhD in History at the University of New South Wales, Canberra. Her thesis focuses on Australia’s war in the Mediterranean during the Second World War, and she has both presented and published more broadly on the Second World War. She currently works as a researcher on the Official History of Australian Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, based at the Australian War Memorial.

Kus Pandey was the manager of the Australian Centre for the Study of Armed Conflict and Society (ACSACS) at the Australian Defence Force Academy campus of the University of New South Wales from 2018 to 2019. She was awarded an Australia Day Medallion by the Department of Defence for her contribution to ACSACS, with specific recognition of her support of the Sir James Rowland Seminars.

Jarrod Pendlebury is an honorary research fellow with The King’s School Institute and a senior strategist in the Royal Australian Air Force. His research interests focus on the intersection of sociology and strategy, with particular emphasis on air power, and he has been published widely in Australia, Europe, and the United States.