This report reviews the open-source information available on the counter-space capabilities that can threaten U.S. space systems and which countries are developing such systems. The report is intended to raise awareness and understanding of the threats, debunk myths and misinformation, and highlight areas in which senior leaders and policymakers should focus their attention.

The benefits of autonomous systems on the modern battlefield have been widely recognised, yet the Australian Defence Force has only slowly adopted them. This report recommends how Defence can jump start the transition to greater use of autonomous systems.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building links between China’s civilian universities, military and security agencies. Those efforts, carried out under a policy of leveraging the civilian sector to maximise military power (known as ‘military–civil fusion’), have accelerated in the past decade, according to the research behind this report.

As with earlier ASPI case studies on defence projects, this report is designed to help those in Defence, industry and parliament, and other interested observers, to better understand the complexities of the business, all with the aim of improving how Australia equips the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

This report argues that the defence sector urgently needs to develop robust human rights due diligence polices and processes, separate from those undertaken as part of government licensing assessments, that truly address the very serious human rights risks the industry routinely runs.