HADR-time to lift our game?

At a time the Royal Australian Air Force is busy delivering humanitarian aid and military stores to communities under threat from Islamic State militants, a Chinese Navy medical assistance voyage to help some of our South Pacific neighbours calls for a quick look at how well were conducting military humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) close to home as well as further afield. The Peoples Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) launched its first modern hospital ship, the Peace Ark, in 2007, five years before it commissioned its first aircraft carrier, partly because doing so was technically easier, but also because it offers a powerful tool for international engagement. Five times smaller than its US Navy equivalent, the USS Mercy classwhich was designed first and foremost to provide global support for major combat operations such as the First Gulf Warthe Peace Ark is sometimes referred to as a humanitarian ship, given its primary soft-power mission.