Air Power Australia is a private non-profit Australian think tank

Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

. It was formed by Dr Carlo Kopp

Carlo Kopp

Carlo Kopp is a prominent Australian freelance defence analyst and academic who has published ~300 articles in trade publications such as Defence Today, Air International, Journal of Electronic Defense, Jane's Missiles and Rockets, Australian Aviation and the Asia Pacific Defence Reporter on...

 and Peter Goon in October 2004. The stated primary aim of the organization is 'air power research and analysis, especially in the context of a modern integrated joint national force structure.' Air Power Australia is not affiliated with the Department of Defence, the Australian Defence Force or any other Australian Commonwealth government organization.

Positions and controversy

Air Power Australia has been a persistent contributor in recent years to the Australian parliamentary and public defense debate, and has written numerous submissions to a range of federal parliamentary inquiries. Many of these submissions have been dismissed, however, with other defence officials and defence academics maintaining conclusions at significant variance with APA's submissions. The report of the Defence Sub-committee in its "Inquiry into Australian Defence Force Regional Air Superiority", in particular, had multiple occasions to question conclusions reached by Dr Kopp and Mr Goon in their submissions on behalf of APA . Specifically these conclusions included threat perceptions of India and China, the viability of transferring funding from the RAAF HUG program to a life extension program for the F-111, the technical issues associated with maintaining the aging F-111 fleet and the likely costs associated with an F-22 purchase.

Air Power Australia has criticized the acquisition of F-35

F-35 Lightning II

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...

 Joint Strike Fighter and interim fighter aircraft (F-18E/F), and has advocated acquisition of the F-22 Raptor (despite the current impossibility of this due to a US Congressional export ban under the "Obey" Amendment), retention of the F-111 (despite a lack of current and medium term capacity to properly escort such an aircraft operationally to maximise the benefits of the platform's range), acquisition of additional aerial refueling

Aerial refueling

Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....

 and heavy lift aircraft, and additional ISTAR

ISTAR

ISTAR stands for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance. In its macroscopic sense, ISTAR is a practice that links several battlefield functions together to assist a combat force in employing its sensors and managing the information they gather.Information is collected on...

 platforms for the Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

.

Papers

The Air Power Australia website archives well in excess of 350 articles and papers dealing mostly with contemporary military aviation and Australian defense issues.

The Air Power Australia Analyses journal (ISSN 1832-2433) is also hosted by the website. Its stated aim is to provide a vehicle for academic and professional research, analysis and discussion articles and papers which do not fit the parameters of established publications in Australia. Most of the journal's publications to date are concentrated in the areas of policy, policy reform, strategy, technological strategy and basic technology.

External links

• Air Power Australia Website
• "Flying Blind"- Four Corners, ABC, 29 October 2007