It is not often that a government takes a more uncompromising line on military preparedness than the professional advisers in its defense department and forces. Yet this is exactly the situation that is playing out in Australia for the second time in five years. And this time, as previously, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet looks like it's gaining an unexpected order while Lockheed Martin, because of the lateness of its F-35 program, runs a risk of missing contracts that it could once have counted as in the bag.

There is no letup in Beijing's military development, particularly in higher-end activities with quality rather than mass an increasing priority, says the Pentagon in its latest annual public threat assessment of China's military and security developments. Moreover, as China tries to satisfy its ever-increasing hunger for foreign energy, it has turned to exporting everything from advanced infantry weapons to a range of increasingly sophisticated warplanes.

China's DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile system presents one of the world's most decisive challenges in the field of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), with potentially far-reaching consequences for international affairs. If China can make the missile system work, it could shift the balance of power in East Asia, causing the many countries looking warily at China's growing military clout to wonder how far they can rely on the U.S. to counterbalance the regional giant.