Defence & Security Podcast Network

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867

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Jun 2026

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About the show

The Defence & Security Podcast Network hosts a unique series of podcasts, featuring discussions with key enablers from across the Australian defence and security industry. The podcasts provide the perfect blend of business intelligence and insights from a range of guests, which include government officials, ADF personnel, industry stakeholders, and members of the academic community. By aligning ourselves with the ADF and the Commonwealth government, we are uniquely placed to deliver a dynamic 360° platform that bridges the gap between the customer (Defence) and industry. We split our focus not just into the traditional sectors of Land (Army), Air (Air Force) and Sea (Navy), but into the six new Capability Streams: - Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare and Cyber - Key Enablers - Air and Sea Lift - Maritime and Anti-Submarine Warfare - Strike and Air Combat - Land Combat and Amphibious Warfare As Defence moves to ensure the Force Structure Review and the First Principles Review: Creating One Defence plans are met, Australian industry involvement is critical for mission success. The Defence & Security Podcast Network will provide you and your business with valuable lessons, tips and insights into the industry, putting your company in the best position to take part in the increased Defence spending. We'll cover every aspect of doing business in the defence industry, from the tender process to recruitment, success stories, access points to Defence, smart business strategies, and geopolitical insights. Subscribe to the Defence & Security Podcast Network and be part of this exciting and innovative industry.

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60 recent

June 15, 202641 min

CONTESTED GROUND: Fortune favours the bold – building a national security strategy for the 21st century, with Marc Ablong

When Opposition Leader Angus Taylor announced a Coalition government would develop and implement a national security strategy, many shouted, "Finally!", but delivering a strategy that is fit for purpose is more political than most would think. Since the release of the nation's first whole-of-nation national security strategy in 2013, successive Australian governments have sought to mask the nation's lack of preparedness with individual but isolated strategies from across government. Championed tirelessly but ultimately unsuccessfully by the late Jim Molan, a national security strategy has often been viewed as solely the remit of a narrow clique of public policy professionals with access to security briefings and the levers of power. But as host Steve Kuper and geostrategic analyst Marc Ablong unpack, a truly encompassing, whole-of-nation national security strategy presents immense opportunities not just for the nation but also for the political party that recognises the challenges we face need to be overcome. This conversation comes at a time when political upheaval, atomisation and social cohesion continue to challenge established and insurgent political movements at home and across the broader Western world. The pair discuss the immense opportunity for the political party that understands and develops a strategy incorporating a distinct and inescapable but seemingly forgotten factor: national security begins with the individual. They discuss just what makes a "good" national security strategy in the modern context, the lessons Australia can learn from the Scandinavian nations, the United States and other like-minded countries that have recognised the challenges and opportunities presented by the return of multipolar, great power competition. Finally, they discuss a question, only just starting to re-emerge in the public and political consciousness: "What sort of country do we want Australia to be?" Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

June 15, 202620 min

CYBER UNCUT: ThreatLocker's Emile Barakat talks Essential Eight, cyber policy, and security as a human challenge

ThreatLocker's APAC director of operations, Emile Barakat, joins Cyber Daily's David Hollingworth to discuss what makes the Essential Eight so essential, the federal government's budget spend on cyber security, and the Australian outlook on cyber crime and why it happens here. This week on the Cyber Uncut podcast, Cyber Daily deputy editor David Hollingworth speaks with Emile Barakat, the head of cyber security firm ThreatLocker's operations in the Asia-Pacific region. ThreatLocker – and its boss, Danny Jenkins – is a big fan of Australia's Essential Eight cyber security standard, but what really makes that tick, and why is it so important? The pair discuss just why it's one of the gold standards of cyber protection and why other countries should take note. Then it's time to consider this year's budget and the role of government in securing businesses, economies, and consumers in a world of growing cyber threats. Finally, Hollingworth and Barakat get to grips with the local threat landscape and the human challenges of cyber security. "Typically, an organisation will run security awareness training every quarter. Some will do it less frequently, unfortunately," Barakat says. "Even with that training, you'll see compromises and, at times, the same employees make the same mistakes." Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

June 12, 202630 min

Developing Australia's ability to take a hit and keep fighting, with the honourable Andrew Hastie MP, shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability

Many critics often describe Australia's glaring lack of industrial and economic complexity as a major national security challenge, while others see it as a glass jaw impacting our ability to sustain ourselves in a fight or crisis. So, what is needed? This glaring gap in our national resilience and survivability has increasingly figured in commentary and analysis as the Indo-Pacific emerges as the epicentre of the 21st century's great game between great powers. Increasingly, this issue has also figured strongly in our broader conversations with allies, most notably the United States, which is demanding that allies lift their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. Of that total, 3.5 per cent should be spent on military capabilities and the remaining 1.5 per cent on "enabling capabilities", including industrial capacity and infrastructure. With Australia's defence spending in the crosshairs in more ways than one, shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability Andrew Hastie has ramped up his advocacy for Australia to reindustrialise to better enhance its national resilience and long-term economic and industrial capability and competitiveness. Following his recent Anzac oration address to the University of Melbourne's Robert Menzies Institute, Hastie spoke with host Steve Kuper. The pair unpack the unique and intimate relationship between the US and Australia from the perspective of a special forces operator and how that relates to what the United States is now asking of us. As part of this conversation, they discuss the need for a more considered industrial policy, unpacking the key hurdles that are limiting our industrial and economic competitiveness on the global stage and the pressures being faced by the allied industrial base. The pair also unpack the economic and political opportunities that come from being a nation that, as Hastie describes, "makes things again" and how successive Australian governments have failed to capitalise on these opportunities to boost productivity, competitiveness and industrial capacity. Additionally, they examine models of success, what Australia can learn from friends and foes alike, and embracing serious, considered and agile economic reform, including building and rewarding a more risk-accepting culture as a means of propelling the nation forward and finally breaking the shackles of the cultural dominance of tall poppy syndrome. Finally, they also discuss an important and often overlooked question, with Hastie asking: "What sort of country do we want to be?" Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

June 11, 202629 min

AUKUS expansion, artillery manufacturing and Australia's regional defence role

As AUKUS implementation accelerates, questions remain around Australia's role in the Indo-Pacific and how the nation should balance capability development with regional strategic priorities. In this episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, Stephen Kuper, Robert Dougherty and Bethany Alvaro discuss a busy week across Australia's defence landscape, including the establishment of a new US Navy support activity in Perth to support personnel involved in Submarine Rotational Force-West under AUKUS. The discussion explores the significance of the new naval support activity and what it means for the growing American military and defence industry presence in Western Australia. The team also assesses $72 million of investment in a new large-calibre artillery forging facility in Queensland and the importance of expanding domestic ammunition production capacity. Attention then turns to the delivery and testing of the AS9 Huntsman self-propelled howitzer and the increasing importance of mobile artillery systems. On defence exports, the team discusses Thales' accelerated delivery of Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles to the Netherlands and considers the future evolution of the iconic Australian platform. Rounding out the episode, the panel dives into Australia's ongoing support for Ukraine through Operation Kudu and the debate surrounding Australia's role in maintaining security and stability across the Indo-Pacific. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

June 9, 202631 min

SPOTLIGHT: Building mass, capability and trust with autonomous and uncrewed systems, with Michael Mitchell, Elysium EPL director

Australia's maritime estate is simply too vast for any conventionally manned fleet to patrol effectively – uncrewed and autonomous systems will prove key to maintaining Australia's maritime sovereignty. With an exclusive economic zone stretching across roughly 8.2 million square kilometres and critical northern chokepoints through which virtually all the nation's fuel and essential imports flow, the conversation establishes from the outset that the case for autonomous maritime systems isn't about technological novelty, it's about geographic necessity. In this episode of the Defence Connect Spotlight podcast, host Steve Kuper speaks with Elysium EPL director Michael "Mitch" Mitchell where they discuss the increasing proliferation of autonomous and uncrewed systems with the Royal Australian Navy. Drawing on his experience as a submariner, Mitchell's first and most important argument is the persistence imperative. Manned patrol vessels, however capable, are constrained by crew welfare, logistics and port rotations. Autonomous platforms carry none of that overhead. They can loiter on station for days or weeks, consuming far fewer resources and requiring only remote oversight. His second key argument is a conceptual reframe: stop thinking about platforms and start thinking about payloads. The hull, in Mitchell's framework, is just a delivery mechanism. What matters is the modularity of what it carries – sonar, radar, sonobuoys, acoustic modems, hydrographic sensors – and whether those payloads can be swapped rapidly to meet different mission requirements. They also discuss Elysium EPL's dual-use certification approach, deliberately avoiding ITAR-restricted components, which is presented as proof of concept for this philosophy in practice. Perhaps the most culturally challenging argument Mitchell makes concerns attritability. Australian defence procurement culture treats assets as things to be preserved. Mitchell argues that small autonomous vessels need to be reconceptualised as expendable ordnance, drawing an explicit parallel with the Nulka active missile decoy deployed in numbers and postures that would be unthinkable for crewed platforms. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team

June 8, 202646 min

CYBER UNCUT: AI profitability, hacker targets Aussie orgs, and Cyber Daily gets given Shirt of Invisibility…

This week's essential cyber security podcast uncovers a new threat actor targeting a raft of Australian organisations and asks the important question: Is AI profitable yet? Hint – it is not. Cyber Daily's David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft open the podcast with the good news that Anthropic's Mythos platform is, in fact, coming to Australia, and they talk to the man behind the website that asks – and illustrates – the question of our time: who is actually making money from AI? It's also been a shocker of a week for data breaches in Australia, and it looks like one threat actor is behind most of the activity. Organisations such as the ACMI, the Melbourne International Film Festival, and a corporate catering service have all been allegedly hacked. Find out what's happening in cyber crime in Australia, right here. Just another week in cyber security. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

June 4, 202633 min

Defence policy, domestic manufacturing and military culture, with Senator Malcolm Roberts

What are One Nation's aspirations and policies for domestic manufacturing, infrastructure and military capability? In this episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, senior journalist Robert Dougherty is joined by Senator Malcolm Roberts, who is representing Pauline Hanson's One Nation political party. Senator Roberts holds a bachelor of engineering (honours) from the University of Queensland and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He previously worked as a mining engineer and general manager in the coal industry before entering federal politics. The podcast conversation includes the following topics: One Nation's defence policy framework and its focus on national self-sufficiency, logistics and manufacturing capability. The importance of sovereign capability in food production, energy security and defence industry resilience. Defence infrastructure proposals, including northern rail logistics corridors and domestic steel production. The role of accountability, military culture and leadership within the Australian Defence Force. Debate surrounding diversity initiatives, recruitment challenges and "warrior culture" in defence. Australia's defence procurement strategy, including perspectives on AUKUS, submarine acquisition and foreign defence partnerships. The balance between supporting domestic defence manufacturing while ensuring access to proven military capability. Concerns regarding governance, bureaucracy and decision making within defence procurement and public administration. Finally, the discussion wraps up looking at the future of Australian defence preparedness, including the intersection of infrastructure, manufacturing and national sovereignty. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

June 2, 202636 min

SPOTLIGHT: LAND 156, counter-drone warfare and electronic warfare capability, with Department 13's Ben Westgarth

How can Australia keep pace with the rapid proliferation of drones reshaping the character of warfare and creating new challenges for militaries, governments and critical infrastructure operators around the world? In this episode of the Defence Connect Spotlight podcast, senior journalist Robert Dougherty is joined by Ben Westgarth, chief executive officer of Department 13, to discuss the evolution of counter-uncrewed aerial system technology and Australia's role in developing sovereign capability. Dougherty and Westgarth examine the significance of Project LAND 156, the Australian Defence Force's program to establish a layered counter-drone capability capable of detecting, tracking and defeating emerging aerial threats. The pair explore the role of radio frequency detection technologies in modern electronic warfare, highlighting how Department 13's capabilities contribute to situational awareness and threat detection across increasingly complex operating environments. They discuss the changing nature of drone warfare, drawing lessons from contemporary conflicts where low-cost, rapidly adaptable drone systems are challenging traditional military capabilities. Westgarth outlines how focusing on the fundamental characteristics of drone systems, rather than individual models, can provide a more enduring framework for counter-drone development. Looking beyond defence applications, the pair discuss the importance of dual-use technologies, balancing commercial opportunities with national security requirements. Westgarth highlights the growing need for layered detection, warning and response systems to defend military installations, government facilities and essential national assets against emerging drone threats. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team

June 1, 202622 min

CYBER UNCUT: Genetec's Mathieu Chevalier on tricking AI and what Claude Mythos really means for the industry

Genetec's lead security architect joins the Cyber Uncut podcast to unpack the impact of AI on vulnerability hunting, prompt injection, and how to become invisible with one simple trick. This week on the Cyber Uncut podcast, host David Hollingworth speaks with Genetec's lead security architect, Mathieu Chevalier, about how AI is dramatically impacting both physical and cyber security, the hidden costs of Anthropic's Claude Mythos, and why AI speed must always be matched with human intelligence. But first, Chevalier shares his simple trick to appear invisible to AI with the assistance of just one page of text – or maybe just a T-shirt! The pair then dive into how AI empowers Genetec's security platforms, the rising costs of every AI prompt, and the true power of vulnerability hunting in a post-Mythos world. "I would say the best practices are not established now. It's still so new, and changing so fast," Chevalier says. "So we're kind of trying to learn all together, as a cyber security community, how to do this." Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

May 29, 202613 min

Australia's first 3D printed autonomous USV, with Josh Wigley and Harry Hubbert

How can the new guard of Australian defence technology companies accelerate development of autonomous maritime capability through rapid manufacturing and AI-enabled uncrewed systems? In this special Indian Ocean Defence & Security Conference & Exhibition episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, senior journalist Robert Dougherty is joined by Hyperion Systems CEO Josh Wigley and Greenroom Robotics co-founder and chief operations officer Harry Hubbert. Hyperion and Greenroom Robotics have partnered to develop the southern hemisphere's first 3D printed uncrewed surface vessel. The craft combines rapid additive manufacturing with Australian autonomy software to deliver a scalable and adaptable maritime platform. Wigley and Hubbert discuss the rapid development of the 4.6-metre USV, including Hyperion's use of recycled Australian plastics and large-scale 3D printing technology alongside Greenroom Robotics' autonomous navigation and mission software. The podcast conversation includes the following topics: Development of the southern hemisphere's first 3D printed autonomous USV. The use of sovereign Australian autonomy software for navigation and mission control. Rapid manufacturing techniques and the role of additive manufacturing in accelerating defence capability delivery. Potential operational applications including ISR, persistent surveillance, logistics support and mine warfare. Lessons drawn from modern conflicts, including Ukraine, and the importance of adaptable autonomous systems. The role of sovereign supply chains, recycled materials and scalable production in Australia's future maritime capability. Finally, the discussion explores the future role of autonomous and uncrewed maritime systems within the Royal Australian Navy, including how Australian industry can rapidly scale sovereign capability development to meet evolving strategic requirements. Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

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Defence &amp; Security Podcast Network