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I've had this discussion a few times. I don't think we live in the same world any more, where physical invasion of country is advantageous. What exactly are we

I've had this discussion a few times. I don't think we live in the same world any more, where physical invasion of country is advantageous. What exactly are we defending against? I just don't see the Chinese trying to invade and control Australia. What would they get from that? All the resources? They already get those - and it's a lot cheaper to just buy them than it would be to keep a hostile invading army in place to dig them up themselves. China even operates some mines on Australian soil already (with all-Chinese staff, flown in direct from China). What on earth could they take from us that we won't sell them freely? Australia is a US naval/supply/intelligence base, and that's it. The only militarily interesting targets in the country are owned by the US. I think the Kiwis got the right idea here. The only way to win this game is to not play.

roca 5y ago
Subs could be useful to protect/attack shipping or military assets that are protecting/attacking shipping. It does seem improbable that we will see large scale land invasions of developed countries. However, European nations also thought that was improbable pre-WW1. It's not crazy to err on the side of caution here. After all you could ask the same questions about the Chinese military build-up --- no-one's going to invade mainland China, obviously. NZers definitely don't want to be in the nuclear sub business but I think the majority of NZers are concerned about the direction of the CCP and are happy to be part of ANZUS and Five Eyes. Sure, we want to keep taking China's money but if push comes to shove there's no doubt which side we're on.