Sherlock Holmes may well have dubbed it The Curious Case of the Absent Aircraft, but confusion over an extended delay in the delivery of the first of the RAAF’s five KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transports (MRTTs) has now been clarified, although a firm delivery date has not.

Slashed and burned. Not only did this year’s Federal budget defer $2.4 billion of investment to beyond 2014, but the government clawed back $3.9 billion that had been promised in the 2009 White Paper from across the forthcoming decade.

As mentioned earlier, only days before the budget in Canberra, ministers Smith and Clare took the opportunity to announce a range of measures under the Strategic Reform Program (SRP) umbrella. Many of the details build on the work done under the previous Kinnaird and Mortimer reviews.

This year’s defence budget looks like a low-key document, but its long term implications are profound. The financial basis for budget planning has changed fundamentally: the SRP is the new source of Defence’s 3 per cent budget growth.

Defence has invited proposals from Australian and NZ industry to participate in the 16th annual round of the Capability and Technology Demonstrator (CTD) Program. The closing date for applications is 8 July.

While some cuts to Defence were to be expected given the government’s promise to return to surplus next financial year (an election year), the cuts were larger than many had anticipated. But there is some light in the finer detail.

Defence Support Group (DSG) is responsible for delivering most of the shared services that support the ADF and Defence Groups, and is fundamental to generating Defence capability through the services it provides.

The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, has announced the appointment of Major General Brian (Ash) Power to the position of Chief of Joint Operations effective from 20 May.

Lieutenant General Mark Evans who stands down as Chief of Joint Operations is one of four men in the running to be the next Chief of Army, when the incumbent LTGEN Ken Gillespie, finishes his term.

Last week the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, hosted a visit to Canberra by General Peter van Uhm, the Netherlands Chief of Defence.

The Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit has tabled its report into the 2009-10 Defence Materiel Organisation, Major Projects Report on 22 defence major acquisitions worth $40.8 billion.

Perhaps the most interesting announcements relating to defence seen in the last few weeks were not made in the budget but on the Friday beforehand on Strategic Reform Program measures.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, Defence is developing First and Second Pass approvals of Defence Capability Plan projects worth over $6 billion.

The US would have to abandon some military missions and trim troop levels if President Barack Obama presses ahead with new proposed defence cuts.

Defence minister Stephen Smith has announced that Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick will lead an examination of the treatment of women in the ADF.

The Federal Opposition claims new figures reveal only 16 out of 54 ships in the Royal Australian Navy were fully crewed and operational in the first six months of 2010.