In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Ewen Levick and Ben Felton review and discuss some of the recent news of interest from Australia, the USA and the Asia / Pacific region.

We start by discussing the announcement that Kongsberg has received $850m from the Australian Government to build a new factory at Newcastle Airport for production of missiles and to qualify Australian companies for its supply chain. Following this, we consider the recently announced update to the AUKUS Pillar One agreement which imposes stricter conditions on our handling of nuclear materials while also stating that the US & UK militaries have priority over Australian requirements.

Keeping with the US, we also discuss the new ITAR Exemptions for Australia and the UK, Australia's five Excluded Technology List items. We also discuss the recent items about Ghost Shark and Ghost Bat developments.

We wrap up the episode with a look at Regional news items, including Australia and Indonesia agreeing to an in-principle Defence Cooperation upgrade, the 6th Joint Heads of Pacific Security Meeting, withdrawal of ADF personnel from the Solomon Islands, and Indo Pacific Endeavour 2024 kicking off last week.

LINKS:

Kongsberg to build Naval and Joint Strike Missiles in Australia: www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/kongsberg-to-build-naval-and-joint-strike-missiles-in-australia

New AUKUS agreement signed: www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/new-aukus-agreement-signed

Australian ITAR exemption to begin on 1 September: www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/australian-itar-exemption-to-begin-on-1-september

Ghost Shark makes US debut: www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/ghost-shark-makes-us-debut

First Air Force pilot trained on MQ-28A Ghost Bat: www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/first-air-force-pilot-trained-on-mq-28a-ghost-bat

Joint ministerial statement on Australia-Indonesia Defence cooperation: www.minister.defence.gov.au/statements/2024-08-20/joint-ministerial-statement-australia-indonesia-defence-cooperation

Pacific security chiefs meet to advance operational cooperation: www.defence.gov.au/news-events/releases/2024-08-16/pacific-security-chiefs-meet-advance-operational-cooperation

Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2024 to deepen regional partnerships: www.defence.gov.au/news-events/releases/2024-08-12/indo-pacific-endeavour-2024-deepen-regional-partnerships

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Hosted by Grant McHerron

Producer: Steve Visscher

Editor: Chris Visscher

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