Australian Defence Magazine Podcast

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Sir Nick Hine, Managing Director of Babcock’s new AUKUS & International division, about creating and supporting a nuclear submarine capability in Australia. We discuss the role that Babcock plays in supporting Australian nuclear submarines, and their goal to expand our sovereign capability through their new division for AUKUS & International. Nick...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Greg Barsby, Managing Director at QinetiQ, about flight test ranges, facilities and test & evaluation in general. We start off by discussing the wide range of services that QinetiQ provides throughout Australia, the UK, and the USA. We explore how QinetiQ performs research and maintains facilities for testing a multitude of military ordnance solutions...

Grant McHerron has been with the ADM team at the Australian International Airshow 2023 (aka Avalon) on the fourth day which combined trade with general public access. During the event, Grant spent some time at the drone racing tent, recording the following content: 1. WGCDR Keirin Joyce steps us through the benefits and opportunities that drone racing brings the Australian Defence Force. 2. PTE Ha...

Grant McHerron has been with the ADM team at the Australian International Airshow 2023 (aka Avalon) on the third trade day, recording content for future episodes along with short discussions for daily release. This episode features the following content: 1. Applied Virtual Simulations (AVS) and the Land Simulation Core 2.0 project. 2. Kongsberg Defence Australia's NASAMS, StrikeMaster and Strike M...

Grant McHerron has been with the ADM team at the Australian International Airshow 2023 (aka Avalon) on the second trade day, recording content for future episodes along with short discussions for daily release. This episode features the following content: An excerpt of our discussion with Fequentis regarding their virtual air traffic control tower technology and the Defence applications of their d...

Grant McHerron has been with the ADM team at the Australian International Airshow 2023 (aka Avalon) on the first trade day, recording content for future episodes along with short discussions for daily release. This episode features the following content: 1. Hexagon/Luciad regarding their geospatial and mission planning systems, including their onboard use in combat aircraft. 2. 41 Wing RAAF regard...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Tony Howell, Global Chief Architect, Defence and Intelligence at archTIS, about the role information is playing in warfare with our multinational coalitions, and the challenges of sorting and sharing classified information globally. Tony gives us his perspective on the JADC2 project in the US, the role of intelligence solutions in the Defence industry, an...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Jason Van der Schyff, Chief Operating Officer at SoftIron, about building sovereign infrastructure for cloud computing. Jason gives us an overview of cloud computing, how sovereign capability and data security is ensured, and the use cases for edge and centralised processing. We also get an insight into how SoftIron entered the Defence industry, and the c...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Andrew Balmaks, CEO, and Noel Derwort, GM Defence, at Noetic Group about simplifying, optimising and modernising businesses in the Defence industry. We discuss how industry partnerships can support Defence, the continued push to move work below the line, and the importance of recruiting veterans. We also get a detailed insight into the contributions profe...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Audra McCarthy, CEO of the Defence Teaming Centre, Maurie McNarn, Chair of the Board at Norsta Maritime, Sandra Simpson, Marketing & Strategic Development for Elexon Electronics and Esther Pither, Finance & Administration Manager at CBG Systems. We discuss how DTC brings organisations together to develop an eco-system that supports collaboration a...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Justin Giddings, CEO of AMDA Foundation about the Avalon Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition which will be held at the end of February 2023. We discuss the gargantuan task of preparing for the Avalon Airshow in 2023, with a focus on building permanent infrastructure, collaborating with the Victorian Government, and coor...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Cam Purdy, Key Account Manager, Land, from Thales Australia and the topic for today is maintenance & support for Army. We explore the purpose of the Defence Maintenance Contract (DMC) and what is involved in supporting and sustaining Army. Cam gives us an overview of why Thales has submitted a tender for the contract, how they are planning to deliver...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Alex Quirk and Keshav Sundaresh from Altair about digital twins and their use in Defence and industry. Digital twin technology is the process of using data streams to create a digital representation of the elements and dynamics of assets to improve collaboration, information access, and decision-making. Digital twins can be used to represen...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Ashley Neale, Development Manager for Space & Satellites at Vocus, and Phil Ridley, CEO of Quasar Satellite Technologies. The discussion starts off by learning about how Vocus and Quasar operate in the space sector and their roles in the defence industry to deploy an expansive Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite infrastructure in Australia. We also learn...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Senator David Fawcett about his recent opinion piece on how Defence capability acquisition can be improved by ensuring that risk assessments are timely, accurate and transparent. We explore in detail the history of reports that detail Defence’s inconsistent record when it come to assessing risks in major project acquisition. Senator Fawcett...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Aaron Di Noia, electronics engineer, and Gavin Henry, business development manager, who are both from Thales Australia, along with Associate Professor Adrian Wills at the University of Newcastle. The discussion covers the importance of collaborating with Australian universities and supporting their students in order to expand the skillset of the next gene...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Marcus Hellyer, Senior Analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), about his views on the pending Defence Strategic Review and possible impacts from the October budget. We discuss how the Labor Party may approach the review, the influence the parliamentary system has on the management of the ADF, and the impacts it has on...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Max Kufner, Vice President Above Water Systems at Thales Australia. Max discusses Thales Australia's role in Defence's Future Maritime Sustainment Model (FMSM), part of Plan Galileo for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) which is aiming to further develop Australia’s sovereign capabilities. The discussion also gives us an insight into how the RAN assess the...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Amanda Holt, CEO of SYPAQ about autonomous systems. SYPAQ is a veteran-owned business which has transformed from a professional services provider into a proven end-to-end systems integrator focused on autonomous systems. We start off by learning about the journey of SYPAQ in the Defence industry over the last 5 years, as well as their current presence in...

In this episode, Grant McHerron & Ewen Levick talk with Tim Pickford, Director of Strategy & Business Development at Hanwha Defense Australia. We start off by learning about the history of HDA and their approach to servicing the Defence industry and international opportunities, most recently with armoured, tracked vehicles. The discussion then explores how HDA is working to automate their...

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Alan Seymour, Director of Defence, and Greg Bouwmeester, Director of Software Solutions, at Motorola Solutions ANZ. We reflect on Motorola Solutions’ strong history of innovation and firsts, the company’s ongoing evolution into video and software and the relevance and applicability of its solutions for Australia’s Defence sector. With new solutions to ove...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Alan Rankins & Bret Barton of Goal Group who return to the ADM podcast to provide an update on their Defence Ready seminar series along with the cybersecurity and professional services they supply to the Defence Industry. We start off with an overview of what Goal Group is and how they collaborate with Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs)...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Hayden Surrao of JLB-Yaran, an Indigenous and Veteran-owned professional service provider to the Defence industry. We start off by learning about the history and formation of the JLB-Yaran company, which is an Indigenous and Veteran-owned professional service provider that has undertaken a number of community initiatives and contracts suppo...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with Robert Nioa, Global CEO of NIOA, about the Australian Missile Corporation and its bid to become the Australian government’s strategic partner for the Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise. The discussion starts with Robert explaining the role the Australian Missile Corporation (AMC) hopes to play in the sovereign missil...

In this episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick talk with former Australian Chief of Navy, retired Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, about his new role as convenor of the Indo Pacific 2022 International Maritime Exposition, which will be held in Sydney from the 10th to the 12th of May this year. Tim covers the history and purpose of the exposition along with an overview of the conferences that run in conj...