Getting Our Sea Kings to Sea

In their haste to get a replacement carrier, any carrier, for HMAS Melbourne the Royal Australian Navy lost badly to the twin ravages of international crisis and a lack of local political support. Prior to the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands, it looked certain that the RAN would have their HMAS Australia in service as you read these words. The war, and a government perhaps having second thoughts, defeated the RAN strategy. Having lost both Melbourne and Australia the navy continued to campaign to get a carrier, only to see a Labor government enter office to well and truly scuttle its hopes of maintaining seaborn fixed-wing airpower in the decades ahead.

Indeed the ‘great carrier debate’ was one of the most heated, often misquoted and certainly one of the most complex defence decisions of recent years. Whether or not you were for our navy having an aircraft carrier, equipped with VISTOL combat aircraft and helicopters, is beside the point. The situation now is that the navy has suffered a severe mauling in the past two years in terms of its current-day tactical capability.

Compared with two years ago the RAN has effectively lost its entire mobile sea-based air defence and strike elements (A-4G), its medium-range ASW screen (S-2), its dedicated fleet ASW helo (Sea King) and its mobile command and control centre. Aircraft apart, no current RAN ship has the command and control capabilities that are fundamental to the waging of a successful maritime action.

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