The Indian Ocean has become an area of geostrategic competition. As Australia is an Indian Ocean country, it is incumbent our national security community to understand the strategic and military dynamics of the region. The diverse air power capabilities within the region are an important aspect of those dynamics. Over a series of three posts, Peter Layton provides a starting point for readers to begin to understand Indian Ocean air power. In this first post of the series, Layton provides an overview of some of the capabilities of seven regional countries from Africa and Asia.
The Indian Ocean is changing. A new balance of power is emerging as India rises, China enters, and America begins focusing its efforts elsewhere. The old balance kept the peace, albeit sometimes by making war. The defining features of this new balance still need working out and, in this, Australia is vitally interested.
Please click here to read the full “Indian Ocean air power: An ocean of air forces” article published at The Central Blue, written by Griffith Asia Institute Visiting Fellow, Dr Peter Layton.
