Скачать или смотреть Mark Binskin on Airpower and Command Responsibility | Ep037 Frontlines & Faultlines

In this episode of Frontlines & Faultlines, Dr Mike Kelly is joined by former Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin AC, for the first part of a special two-episode conversation on airpower, coalition warfare, and the hard realities of targeting in modern conflict.

Mark reflects on the operational foundation of his career — from Navy carrier aviation flying A-4 Skyhawks, to transferring into the Air Force, progressing through Mirage and Hornet operations, and later leading at the highest levels of Australian defence. Along the way, he offers a practical insight into what training, risk controls, and operational discipline really look like when you’re operating at the sharp end.

The discussion then moves into coalition targeting during the Iraq War era, where Australia and the UK operated under different legal and policy frameworks from the United States. Mark explains the “red card” mechanism used inside Combined Air Operations Centres — a safeguard that allows coalition partners to prevent their aircraft being tasked outside sovereign rules of engagement, particularly in time-sensitive strikes when decisions are being made in real time.

A major focus of the episode is how targeting has evolved through increasingly sophisticated planning tools and collateral damage estimation processes. Mark unpacks how decision thresholds work, why some strikes require escalation through senior military and even political authority, and how commanders weigh military advantage against the risk to non-combatants. The episode also tackles a critical tension for future conflict: public expectations for minimising civilian harm continue to rise, while high-end war may impose harder trade-offs in time, cost, and operational risk.

This is the first of a two-part conversation, setting up a deeper examination in the next episode of lessons from later operations and what Australia must learn as warfare becomes more complex, constrained, and contested.

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