The one thing I struggle with is why Australia needs such a fighting vehicle? Does your military foresee China or Indonesia invading with land forces? Maybe that is why so few vehicles?
They are for show basically, to give the army something to drive around in, to train in. Our army is so small it's pathetic but we save a fortune not having a real one. I don't believe any serious thinker considers Indonesia as a threat, simply because even if they landed armies across the straights, where would the armies go? There is over a thousand miles of outback up there to traverse before you reach any population. Swamps and dense mulga, few navigable roads. The only way to mount a serious attack would be to come down the coast by sea, east or west, and attack from sea, attack near a city. Again you have thousands of miles of ocean and reefs to navigate. We bribe the dictators up there with humanitarian aid which they mostly pocket for themselves.
255 million Australian dollars in aid in 2020-21.
On a scale of one to 100, where one represents maximal corruption, Singapore’s CPI declined slightly from 85 in 2021 to 83 in 2022, followed by Malaysia from 48 to 47... But Indonesia fell from 38 to 34, and the Philippines remained stagnant at 33.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/20 ... rther.htmlAs a general rule, if a politician says something, then assume the opposite is actually going to occur. Politicians are good contrary indicators. "Make America Great Again" What would that entail? Well basically a 90% drop in oil prices with the refilling of the nations conventional fields. Tens of millions of high paid jobs would have to quickly return, the national debt would have to be reduced by 90%, the nations infrastructure would have to be restored to 1960's quality and the besetting race issues would need to be eradicated. Is this possible? No. Ergo America can never be made great again. Common logic.
Many scholars refute the standard line that the Japanese were going to invade Australia. That was an idea fostered by the government to galvanize the nation behind the war effort, to garner cannon fodder. Fact is Australians were all well armed unlike all the other nations the Japanese invaded. Yes they met opposition from colonial forces on landing but the general populations were not armed with military grade hunting rifles as the aussie men were. Even today there are millions of long guns in private hands, repeater shotguns, auto pistols, cranky white aussies (85% of the population) with fast cars and a general distrust if not veiled hatred of the non-white populations.
We're a bit like Switzerland or the US in that respect. Very difficult to subdue. Air superiority is the key to any battle of course and I just couldn't see a small nation like Indonesia running the picket of our modern US made squadrons. Anything is possible but because Australia is generous with it's aid and with the export of resources to China there is really no incentive for them to go to war with us. They know all this rhetoric out of Washington and Canberra is just that, just talk. And the minerals keep flowing. Why did the Japanese attack Peal Harbor? Because the US imposed an oil embargo. When goods don't cross borders armies do so the trick is to keep the goods flowing.