In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ben Felton talk with David Wiseman, Vice President for Secure Communications at BlackBerry, about ensuring mobile communications can remain secure. We start the discussion by getting an overview of David’s talk ‘Spying on mobile’ at the Military Communications and Information Systems (MilCIS) Conference, which highlights the need for sovereign communication systems. David shares his views on the recent hack of US telecom networks in the lead up to their...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Nigel Pittaway and Ben Felton review and discuss some of the recent news of interest published on the ADM site. We open the discussion by looking at the big news from Defence that JP9102 for a Geostationary communications satellite capability is no longer going ahead as originally intended (aka it's pretty much been cancelled). It's not surprising given the ways a satellite can be compromised these days, along with the transition to Low Earth Orbit...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ben Felton talk with Giles Evans who is the Director of Nuclear Consulting at ADCG and Co-Founding CTO of Australian Nuclear Power. We discuss the steps that need to be taken for Australia to acquire nuclear capable submarines. We start by getting an overview of Giles’ extensive naval career, then move into discussions surrounding the likelihood of whether the US will increase production to authorise Virginia sub-delivery, whether nuclear capability is...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Ewen Levick and Ben Felton review and discuss some of the recent news of interest published on the ADM site. We start with a discussion about the big announcement of the Henderson consolidation which was reported as involving billions but actually only committed a relatively small amount for breakwater extensions and a three year study. This leads us to a discussion of the fallacy of Defence as a method of economic growth, alternate funding...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Pieter Penhall, Defence Systems Engineering Specialist, and Sam Mancarella, Systems Engineering Director, from MEMKO about their Non-Intrusive Flight Test Instrumentation (NIFTI) system. We start the discussion by getting an overview of how MEMKO was founded, the engineering and digital aerospace ecosystems they primarily operate in, as well as the scope and development of their NIFTI system. We get an insight into how NIFTI operates across different...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ben Felton talk with Dr Matthew Ilich, National Solutions Specialist for Defence at Vocus, about Low Earth Orbit Satellite Communications as a tool for diplomacy and humanitarian aid. We kick off the discussion by getting a background of Mathew’s path into communications and his experiences in the Army. We review the evolution of LEO SatComs technology and their applications in the field, and its suitability for Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR)...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Nigel Pittaway and Ben Felton review and discuss some of the recent news of interest published on the ADM site. We start by discussing the United States approving another 100 AGM-88G AARGM-ER missiles for sale to Australia, noting that it's in addition to the 63 approved last year and that exact numbers being purchased are unknown as these allow "up to" 163 to be purchased. Following this we move on to Australia saying they won't integrate the...

In this episode, we present the last of the interviews we recorded at Land Forces 2024. John Fry, Managing Director of Kongsberg Defence Australia: John updates us on the delivery of Kongsberg Defence Australia's components of the NASAMS Air Defence system to Army, the StrikeMaster launcher for the Naval Strike Missile Coastal Defence System that employs the Thales Bushmaster flatbed utility vehicle, the accelerated acquisition and successful live firing of NSM at RIMPAC, the delivery of...

In this episode, we present four of the interviews we recorded at Land Forces 2024. The first is with Cathy O'Carroll, Campaign Director, and Graeme Bick, Chief Solution Architect, Global Test and Evaluation Campaign from QinetiQ: We discuss QinetiQ's background in both Australia and the UK, then get an insight into the lifecycle of developing, testing, and maintaining weapon systems, including Australia's GWEO programme. The discussion covers the range of effort involved in T&E for long...

In this episode, we present two of the interviews we recorded at Land Forces 2024. The first interview is with Phil Guy, Executive Director, and David Devine, GM, at Mellori Solutions: They give us an update on Mellori’s work over the last year and their views on the increased pace of innovation seen in the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts. We also discuss current electronic warfare technologies, their use of the whole of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the importance of training. The...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ben Felton talk with Ron Parrello, the founder of Blue Opal Advisory, about Minimum Viable Logistics (MVL) as an enabler for the ADF’s Minimum Viable Capability (MVC) approach. We start the discussion by getting an overview of how MVC is utilised to adapt existing technologies to reduce the need to develop new elements and how the current systems in use constrain its delivery. We then dive into how the MVL approach differs from urgent operational...

In this episode, Grant McHerron chats with Ewen Levick, Nigel Pittaway, Julian Kerr and Ben Felton about their experiences and observations on the final day of the Land Forces 2024 event. We kick off with the observation that the theme of the show has been Australian industry's involvement in supply chains with many announcements about contributions to programs both local and international. We also note that the show has had a relaxed but quaity feeling as most major hardware selections have...

In this episode, Grant McHerron chats with Ewen Levick, Ben Felton, Julian Kerr, and Michael Flanagan about their experiences and observations on day two of the Land Forces 2024 event. We start with Julian giving us his views on the event before heading off to yet another interview, Next up is Lockheed Martin Australia's contract with Morand to assess local suppliers' ability to source raw materials for GWEO. This leads to a discussion on building entire missiles in Australia as compared to...

In this episode, Grant McHerron chats with Ewen Levick, Nigel Pittaway and Ben Felton about their experiences and observations on day one of the Land Forces 2024 event. We start the discussion with views on BAE Systems' unveiling of their Atlas Collaborative Combat Variant (CCV), an 8x8 autonomous armoured vehicle. We then move on to the manufacture of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles here in Australia and the issues that need to be addressed before key components can be...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ben Felton talk with Samir Mehta, President of the Communication Systems segment for L3Harris Technologies, about L3Harris’ support for Australia and resilient communications. We begin the discussion by getting an overview of L3Harris broad range of support services, its long standing presence in Australia, and detailed insights into the Regional Support Centre and the sovereign capabilities it will deliver. We explore the importance of truly resilient...

In this episode, Grant McHerron, Ewen Levick and Ben Felton talk with Lena Parker, General Manager Energy Solutions at Ventia, about energy security and its importance for national security. We start off the discussion by getting an overview of why energy and national security are intertwined, with a focus on moving away from coal to renewables, the responsibilities that Defence has in ensuring the supply of power to its assets and Australia’s citizens, and the challenges it faces being the...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Ewen Levick and Ben Felton review and discuss some of the recent news of interest from Australia, the USA and the Asia / Pacific region. We start by discussing the announcement that Kongsberg has received $850m from the Australian Government to build a new factory at Newcastle Airport for production of missiles and to qualify Australian companies for its supply chain. Following this, we consider the recently announced update to the AUKUS Pillar One...

In this episode, we’re changing the format a little as Grant McHerron, Ewen Levick and Ben Felton review and discuss some of the recent news of interest from Australia, the USA and the Asia / Pacific region. We start the discussion with the big news that the Prime Minister has reshuffled his ministers with Pat Conroy being promoted to Cabinet, Matt Thistlethwaite leaving the Defence portfolio, and Luke Gosling becoming a Special Envoy. We then discuss Ghost Shark receiving extra funding, the...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Rob Sutton, Managing Director of Mirragin, about a Defence ecosystem for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS). We kick off the discussion by getting an overview of how Defence is currently engaging with and expanding on RAS, with insights into what is needed to build a functioning sovereign ecosystem, and the important services it can provide throughout every level of war fighting functions. Rob also gives us an insight into what has...

In this episode we're featuring audio recorded at the AutogenAI Executive Exchange luncheon event held recently in Canberra, which was live streamed to the ADM YouTube channel.  Sean Williams, the founder and global CEO of AutogenAI, takes centre stage, sharing his journey to founding AutogenAI and his career evolution from writing tender responses to tech enthusiast. He unveils the astonishing impact of AI and discusses the sociological revolution sparked by large language models,...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Mark Stevens, Managing Partner of Periscope Capital Partners and Managing Director of Arican, about Periscope and private capital for Defence industry. We kick off the discussion by reviewing the difficulties the industry faces when trying to access private capital, and Mark gives us an overview of the goals of Periscope Capital Partners to raise and deploy $1 billion in the next decade. With this context in mind, we get a detailed...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Michael Shoebridge, Founder and Director of Strategic Analysis Australia, about the government’s recently released response to the Surface Fleet Review and other topics. We start off with Michael’s first impressions on the Surface Fleet Review, with concerns surrounding its lack of funding, outdated focus on going big, and delays in delivery. We get further insights into how Australian Defence’s sovereign risk has increased due to many...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Phil Guy, Managing Director of Alkath Group, and David Devine, General Manager of Mellori Solutions, about Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations, or EMSO. We get an overview of how the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is used to transmit data for communication and navigations across multiple domains. We also get an insight into the possibility for the unification for the EM spectrum in the air, land, cyber, and space domains. The discussion provides an...

During Indo Pacific 2023, Grant McHerron talked with George McGuire, CEO of Sentinel Boats. We get an update following their recent delivery of their Sentinels to the NZ Navy equipped with a robust recyclable HDPE hull, which is highly durable, capable, and adaptable in emergency, industrial, and military environments. The discussion also explores their partnership with L3Harris to deploy autonomous capabilities on the Sentinel, which can provide scalability, surveillance, and...