Marcus Hellyer

Defence economics and capability | Birdwatching and photography

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@JAParker29 Gotta agree with you whole-heartedly there, Jen.

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@trader51 @AndrewBGreene @heyycourtt That's why we have the fancy VIP KC-30A. Can't expect DPM and his entourage to travel in a 737.

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@redunley Ukraine drove the Russian navy from the Black Sea using cheap, disposable drones and not a single ship. There. Done.

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

Episode 7 of the Grumpy Strategists out now. Observations on Indo Pac 23 trade show and B-21 first flight, as well as translating Defence's internal review of what went wrong in the Hunter frigate selection process into regular English.

https://t.co/stnbmeA5NW

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@SamRoggeveen Life?

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

Episode 6 of the Grumpy Strategists is now live. What did we learn at Senate estimates hearings last week?

https://t.co/wKpnik3fix

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@redunley The trials of Job. That's the story about believing in something that deliberately turns your life to shit

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@VKAbramowicz @redunley It gets complicated. Some wanted ASW-focused frigate - but what's the point of an ASW frigate if it's sunk by a missile? And what's going to carry all your missiles? Can the RAN have warships with a narrow mission? And if it's about ASW, why get a frigate in the first place?

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@VKAbramowicz @redunley And that's really the heart of the issue. SEA 5000 lacked conceptual clarity. It became all things to all people

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@SeanAndrews65 @navalnewscom In contrast Australia has spent years insisting that F-35B is pointless in archipelagic environments

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

Grumpy Strategists Episode 4 is out.

Lots to grump about this week - Army reorg, collapse of Army helicopter capability, PM's upcoming adventures in Washington and Beijing.

P.S. The Grumpy Strategists can now be found on Spotify.

https://t.co/Oqu7LS8H3B

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

So new Arafura class OPVs have no big gun, no missiles, no speed, no helicopter - and now no UAV?

Dare I hope that this is part of a cunning plan to instead get an awesome UAV made by an Aussie company... Am prolly just dreaming...

https://t.co/eh4EqZ9QTY

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@mac95871978 @redunley What? We are getting Tomahawks to assassinate regional coup leaders?

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

My latest Strategic Analysis Australian piece has some thoughts on why simplistic dismissals of Australia's industrial base are misleading. The inputs that go into generating our huge resource exports can be used to generate defence capability.

https://t.co/aX1nzy63Qx

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@JasonThomasDeM1 Yup, if we are spending $368 billion, then a few billion more for concrete and air defence is mandatory. The bad guys are going to try to kill our SSNs before they ever go to sea

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

I did say that B-21s would be an awesome ASW platform since subs spend most of their lives in plain view...

Ukrainian Bombers Firing Western Cruise Missiles Have Knocked Out A Russian Submarine https://t.co/9tA08lhztq

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

Just wait til he takes the train from Sydney to Canberra. He ain't seen nothing yet

[Greg Raymond @GregoryVRaymond]

Biggest moment for the Belt and Road Initiative in SE Asia since Lao-China railway opened in Dec 2021: Jokowi travelled on the Chinese-built Jakarta to Bandung highspeed railway today, travelling at speeds up to 350kmh.

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@JAParker29 And the USN doesn't have an answer to the cost-capability death spiral either. Their fleet is ageing and numbers going backwards too.

[Marcus Hellyer @DefenceDollars]

@redunley @JAParker29 The problem is that without an Australian commercial shipping industry, there's no workforce pool to draw upon.