The Torch
Illuminating Security and Defence Issues
5 Eyes Partners
‘We’re f***ed!’ British Army brigade ‘destroyed by Ukraine’ in Nato wargame
8 April 2026
A team of just 10 Ukrainians counter-attacked the Nato forces 'destroying' 17 armoured vehicles and overwhelming their opponents....
Several trends are shifting defense tech toward Europe
8 April 2026
War, regulation, and distrust of the United States are tilting a big market homeward....
Measuring Lethality: Army Combat Power and Force Design
8 April 2026
This Research Paper addresses the utility of measuring lethality as a focal point in force design....
The Decline and Fall of the British Army
10 March 2026
Writing in the Spectator last month, the military historian Allan Mallinson wondered “how many people appreciate what a remarkably capable army we had — and how incapable that Army has become?”...
British and German military chiefs press ‘moral’ case for rearmament
10 March 2026
Defence leaders write joint appeal urging public on need to be prepared for war with Russia and resulting costs....
China is our region’s great power. We need to make the best of that
10 March 2026
A nightmare that has haunted generations of strategic thinkers and policymakers in Australia has come true: we live in a region increasingly dominated by an Asian great power....
Editors’ picks for 2025: ‘Sharks for filling the moat: what Anduril’s autonomous submarines can do for Australia’
2 February 2026
Autonomous submarines that Australia has launched into production are likely to relieve operational pressure on the country’s crewed submarines, undertake the most dangerous undersea missions, and present an enemy with greater risk of detection and attack....
Army unveils new tank—five years early
2 February 2026
Car enthusiasts milling around the floor at the Detroit auto show this week will get the first public glimpse of the Army’s new main battle tank, as the service prepares to roll out its M1A1 Abrams replacement five years ahead of its original timeline....
Maneuver in the Marketplace: The Changing Economic Dimension of Warfare
2 February 2026
“It’s the economy, stupid.” So said James Carville, an advisor to Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992, and many peacetime politicians since. But it is also an idea that has kept military planners and wartime leaders awake at night. War has always been big business. But the business of war is changing. Western militaries need an urgent mindset shift, akin to the integration of cyber or space into their plans, concepts, and doctrine, in how they conceptualise the role of the commercial sector and the mobilisation of private firms in support of operations, especially in times of interstate conflict....
The decline and fall of the British Army
4 January 2026
Over the past half century, the British Army has been shaped by shifting strategic demands and repeated operational tests. Its combat capability expanded during the Cold War as planners prepared for conflict with the Soviet Union, before being proven — and strained — in Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the Gulf War, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. These campaigns reveal how Britain’s land forces adapted, and what was lost along the way....
Debating defence spending is prudence, not warmongering
4 January 2026
It is not warmongering to discuss how a changing world may affect Australia’s way of life, just as it did during World War II. It is prudent and responsible to have a national conversation about how we prepare for the changes outlined in Australia’s National Defence Strategy. And that preparation must include a clear-eyed discussion about defence spending....
Success of Naval Laser Weapon Leads to $400M Contract
4 January 2026
More than $400 million is being invested in the Royal Navy’s first ever laser weapon after it downed high-velocity drones in the latest trials....
Counter-drone warfare at scale? Army demo shows it’s getting closer
4 January 2026
In a grassy field near the Baltic Sea, U.S. soldiers used net-shooting hunter drones, specially outfitted 557 rifles, and .50-caliber machine guns to drop dozens of drones, large and small, into the cold mud....
What Trump’s National Security Strategy means for Australia
13 December 2025
Before its release on 4 December, the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS) had been expected to emphasise increased defence burden-sharing among allies and partners; a refresh of US priorities, placing ‘America First’; a more active US role in the Indo-Pacific; and deeper multi-domain interoperability. The strategy, which sets the United States’ security agenda until January 2029, delivers on those expectations, most notably by reconnecting ends and means in pursuit of core national interests....
Trump’s Terrifying New Security Doctrine Turns Canada into a Target
13 December 2025
THE NEW NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY (NSS) issued by the White House on December 4 is the real deal, a nightmarish document to be read with care and trepidation.It can’t be dismissed as anything akin to a late-night Donald Trump tweet, a press conference outburst, or some random appearance on Fox News. It is twenty-nine pages long, and has NO CAPS. It is an encapsulation of the United States president’s belief system about how America should conduct itself in the world....
Strategic Defence Review – Making Britain Safer: secure at home,strong abroad 2025
13 December 2025
My first duty as Prime Minister is to keep the British people safe. That is why national security is the foundation of this Government’s Plan for Change. In this new era for defence and security, when Russia is waging war on our continent and probing our defences at home, we must meet the danger head on. We must recognise the very nature of warfare is being transformed on the battlefields of Ukraine and adapt our armed forces and our industry to lead this innovation. ...
Nato interest in ‘lethal’ Army vehicle, says minister
12 November 2025
The UK government says it is "confident" Nato allies are interested in buying the long-delayed south Wales built Ajax armoured vehicle. The multi-million pound vehicles, made in Merthyr Tydfil by General Dynamics, were originally due to enter service in 2019. However the project has been criticised for being poorly managed by the Ministry of Defence and was paused in June 2021 due to concerns over vibration and noise causing hearing loss to those training.
Returning the Air Force to its expeditionary roots
12 November 2025
If the United States goes to war tomorrow, its Air Force will fly and fight as the world’s best. But the service will operate in a world where the assumptions that shaped it for more than 30 years no longer hold. No longer can the Air Force rely on Bagram-style air bases as sanctuaries, thanks to anti-access and area-denial capabilities developed by China and others. To deter and defeat adversaries, the service must focus on agility, adaptability, and operating with a smaller footprint in austere environments.
Industrial mobilisation is Defence’s true test
12 November 2025
The 2025 Helsinki Geoeconomics Week, held from 11 to 15 August, confirmed a sobering reality: economic power is now inextricably linked to national security and strategic competition. The shifting tectonic plates of geopolitics are grinding away at our traditional certainties. For Australia, on the front line of new geoeconomic realities, our ability to project power and secure our interests rests not solely on the strength of our military capability, but on the depth and responsiveness of our industrial base. The necessity of industrial mobilisation for national support to Defence is now a defining strategic challenge.
A top secret US spacecraft takes flight tonight – and it could rewrite the rules of future warfare
13 October 2025
The X-37B returned to Earth this month, but details of its time in space remain hazy, to say the least....