Australian Defence Magazine Podcast

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Ewen Levick and Kirra Davey review and discuss some of the news of interest that's occurred recently in the world of Defence. We open with a discussion of the new Defence Delivery Group that started on 1st July and will transition to being the Defence Delivery Agency on 1st July 2027. There are many ways that this could become another failed attempt at...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Christopher Rule, the General Manager for Defence, Security and Resilience at GME, about navigating the defence industry landscape and the government's push for support sovereign capability . We begin our discussion by exploring GME’s products, services, and clients, including their three-pillar business model of engineering and advanced manufacturing ser...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Nick Floyd and James Eling of the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company (RAAHC) regarding the RAAHC and the Firepower seminars being conducted this year around Australia. We begin our discussion by exploring the history and purpose of RAAHC, including its formation in 1981 as a volunteer organization dedicated to preserving Australian artillery he...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Neill Morgan, the partner for maritime sustainment at Coras, discuss the importance of sustainment for Defence. Our discussion starts by exploring the importance of including sustainment in defence acquisition processes early on. We delve into blind spots such as industry's tendency to treat sustainment as an afterthought, often overlooking risks like poor techn...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Ewen Levick and Kirra Davey review and discuss some of the news of interest that's occurred recently in the world of Defence. We start the episode discussing Boeing's MQ-28A Ghost Bat which is being displayed at the ILA Berlin Air Show as it's in consideration for Germany's Collaborative Combat Aircraft role. Boeing announced at the event a series of up...

In this episode we present the audio from the recent online event organised by ADM Women in Defence and National Security and the Women in Defence UK organisation. The event commenced with an introduction from the Hon Pat Conroy MP, Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs. The event's MC was Angela Owen OBE, founder of Women in Defence UK, and the discussion panel con...

This episode is a compilation of interviews we recorded at the Indian Ocean Defence and Security 2026 event held in Perth in May. During the show, Kirra and Grant were able to catch up with Senator James Paterson, then Grant recorded a number of interviews with Ocius, Greenroom Robotics, Hyperion, Ausco Group, GlenAir, and Quantum Systems Australia. We hope you enjoy this compilation of content fr...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Dino Mavrookas, the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Saronic Technologies about its approach to autonomous surface vessels. We begin our discussion by getting into Dino’s background as a former US Navy SEAL, evaluating the rapid growth in shipbuilding in China, and how Saronic Technologies is using a vertically integrated approach in their design...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Ewen Levick and Kirra Davey review and discuss some of the news of interest that's occurred recently in the world of Defence. We start by welcoming back Ewen and noting that in the eight weeks or so that he's been away the Strait of Hormuz remains closed with the US Navy unable to re-open it. We look at what this means for military engagements going for...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Dean Rosenfield, CEO of Nova Systems, about the company’s provision of sovereign services in support of the National Defence Strategy (NDS). Our discussion gives us an insight into Dean’s experience holding the role of CEO for the last two years, how Nova in collaboration with SMEs across all domains is growing into a sovereign prime, and how this ensures...

For this episode, Grant McHerron went to Arkeus' office in Melbourne to meet with Simon Owen, the company's co-founder and CEO. Their discussion covers Arkeus, their technology, their contracts here and abroad, and their latest news regarding funding and expansion. We start with a discussion of the inspiration behind Arkeus and the company's history to date, which then leads into a description of...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Matt Kirk, the Director of Trusted Workforce at Worksec, and we’ll be discussing the importance of a trusted workforce. We begin our discussion by exploring the current workforce issue in defence and government sectors, focusing on the bottleneck caused by trust concerns rather than technological limitations. We examine how projects can be delayed due to...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron and Kirra Davey review and discuss some of the news of interest that's occurred recently in the world of Defence. We start with traffic still not clearing the Hormuz Strait and the implications it has for farmers, fuel reserves and Defence capability. Fortunately the NDS & IIP are calling out improvements to our on-shore fuel storage. Next up we cong...

This episode presents a set of interviews with representatives from three organisations that provide assistance to Australian Defence Force veterans and their families. All three rely heavily on donations and volunteers to ensure those in need are supported. We hope this episode will help increase awareness of their efforts and perhaps inspire people and companies to contribute to a worthy cause....

This episode collects a number of interviews recorded at the Singapore Airshow 2026 during February. The episode starts with Bob Gibbs, Vice President of Global Sales and Strategy at Textron Aviation, who discusses their multi-mission aircraft lineup, how they support military clients with upgrades, sensor integration and mission-specific modifications, and also an update on the SkyCourier. =—-= N...

In this episode, Grant McHerron visits BAE Systems Australia and talks with Kisa Christensen, Director of Integrated Defence and Autonomy Systems (IDAS), and Stuart Bryden, Business Development Manager. We discuss BAE Systems’ history of producing autonomous systems and missiles and the Company’s involvement with Australia's Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordinance (GWEO) initiative. We begin by exp...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron, Nigel Pittaway and Kirra Davey review and discuss some of the news of interest that's occurred recently in the world of Defence. The big news is, of course, that the NDS and IIP have been released so we've been working through them to look for any surprises or concerns. There's plenty of missiles and provision for upgrades to the E-7A Wedgetail, BAE Haw...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Michael Irwin, Founder and CEO of Breaker Industries, about how its autonomous platform turns human intent into robotic support. We begin our discussion by getting a history of Michael’s career and Breaker Industries, and assess the differences between true autonomy vs remote control. We review how the system was built from the autonomous decision making...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Pete Smith, CEO of Ocean Software, about their sovereign built software FlightPRO® and its global growth. We begin our discussion by exploring Pete Smith's role as CEO of Ocean Software, focusing on their global growth in military training management and delve into Ocean's clients, including NATO members and European countries like Hungary, as well as out...

This episode collects a number of interviews recorded at the Singapore Airshow 2026 during February. The episode starts with Dan McQuestin, Business Development Director at Bell, who discusses their 429 and 505 aircraft, virtual reality in their simulators, and the 505's ability to fly with or without augmentation to cover basic through to advanced training. We also talk about their involvement wi...

Ewen Levick and Nigel Pittaway discuss the Hunter Class Frigate Program, with build of the first three ships well under way and more information being supplied about the ship design and the program itself. After discussing the current status, we consider the ship's design which is based on the UK's Type 26 Frigate, itself a replacement for their Type 23, noting the complexity of the design, its ne...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with two representatives of K39 Consulting: Sarah Dean, their Managing Director, and Darren Owen, the CEO about the changes and challenges in the defence munitions landscape that has been brought upon by recent geopolitical conflicts. We begin our discussion by exploring K39C's history along with Sarah and Darren's careers, highlighting their expertise within...

In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick review and discuss some of the news of interest that's occurred recently in the world of Defence. We open with a discussion about the Defence Major Projects Report coming to an end, which is reducing the public's access to how Defence is spending billions of dollars, including project delays, major issues, and more. Previous ANAO reports...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Sam Vye, founder and CEO of SYOS Aerospace, about its recent contract with the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to supply uncrewed vehicles across air, land, and sea domains. We explore SYOS’s history and the benefits of contracting to a sovereign provider, then delve into how these systems are designed for experimentation in current conflict environments...

Ewen Levick and Nigel Pittaway discuss Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat, the first aircraft designed and built in Australia in over 50 years. Originally referred to as the Boeing Airpower Teaming System under the Loyal Wingman Advanced Development Program, the first flight of the uncrewed system was on 27th February 2021 and it was officially named the MQ-28A Ghost Bat on 21st March 2022. Following a summ...