logisticsinwar
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Beyond preparedness: logistics and resilience amid new strategic realities
By David Beaumont Presentation given to the NATO Logistics Committee, 12 Nov 25 Firstly, I would like to extend my gratitude for the great privilege to speak to the members of NATO’s Logistics Committee. I also wish to acknowledge the… Continue reading
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Read it – National support for Defence is a whole-of-nation imperative
Editorial Marc Ablong, writing at The Strategist, provides a summary of some of the key issues surrounding the concept of ‘national support’. ‘National support’ is a topic I have often written about, and at its core, is about the integration… Continue reading
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Rethinking Defence Logistics: The Strategic Imperative for Change
By Robbin Llaird In an era of shifting geopolitical dynamics and evolving security challenges, traditional approaches to defence logistics and industrial cooperation are proving fundamentally inadequate. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has starkly illustrated that modern warfare demands not just… Continue reading
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Williams Foundation September 2025 – Beyond Fight Tonight: Building Resilience and Capacity Across Defence and Industry
By David Beaumont (regarding an article by Robbin Laird) Recently the members of the Williams Foundation convened for a seminar on the topic ‘Fight Tonight: combat readiness at the speed of Relevance‘. The seminar gave members, and a large audience,… Continue reading
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Do Defence logisticians need a new professional narrative?
By David Beaumont Ten years ago, I wrote a short article on the Australian Army’s then ‘Land Power Forum’ arguing the case for an Army logistics narrative. This article was written in the wake of a shake-up of the Army’s… Continue reading
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Military solvency and signs of a system that might not work – why militaries must reimagine how they support and sustain forces in a future war
By David Beaumont Western militaries find themselves at a crossroads, as new pressures force a revaluation of assumptions about how they prepare for, and subsequently sustain, operations during a conflict. As the diet of these militaries expands – driven by… Continue reading
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Thesis: Logistics, national support and failure to prepare – lessons on strategic logistics and national support from the 1980’s and 1990’s
By David Beaumont In late July 2024, I was fortunate to enough to have my research recognised with the award of a Doctor of Philosophy. My research entailed a deep study of Defence’s history to unpick the reasons that the… Continue reading
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Learning to live in a logistician’s world – strategic logistics and the future of military resilience
This is the first part of a presentation given at the Australian – New Zealand Defence Logistics Conference during June 2023. This conference convened to discuss supply chain resilience at a time of strategic competition. By David Beaumont. There is… Continue reading
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Self-reliance and the sustainment of the force – logistics as the bedrock or quicksand of operations in a crisis
The following text is of a presentation given at a 2019 Wiliams Foundation conference, ‘Sustaining self-reliance’. As the original article cannot be found on other sites, it is provided here with some slight adjustments. While some aspects of this article… Continue reading
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Operation Warden, logistics and what happened next – the final part to ‘Logistics ‘unpreparedness’ and the International Forces East Timor mission in 1999’
By David Beaumont This article is part of an updated version of a presentation given at the Australian National University titled ‘Logistics preparedness and mobilising the national support base: the effectiveness of ADF strategic logistics prior to Operation Warden 1999‘. The prior articles… Continue reading
The Paper War: Logistics... and everything but the fighting. 