Defence & Security Podcast Network

Australia's defence industry faces a period of growing consolidation and uncertainty, how is past procurement impacting national security of the future?

Speaking with Defence Connect news editor Robert Dougherty, 127 East Advisory director Colin Storey, a former head of growth at Raytheon and Royal Australian Navy patrol boat navigator, discusses his analysis of major defence contracts awarded over the past decade and what the data reveals about Australia's defence industrial base.
Storey's analysis of 373 contracts found more than 27 per cent went directly through foreign military sales, while more than half of the remaining contracts went to foreign-owned companies operating in Australia.
Of the Australian-owned businesses receiving major contracts, much of the spending was concentrated in areas such as infrastructure, facilities and fuel, with Austal emerging as the only Australian-owned defence specialist among the top 20 recipients.
The pair also discuss the gradual offshore consolidation of Australia's defence industry, with major international primes acquiring at least 16 Australian companies over the past four decades.
Combined with the growing cost of major programs and the funding demands of AUKUS, Storey warns this approach could place further pressure on established defence companies, with some potentially reconsidering their long-term presence in Australia.
The pair examine how countries including Sweden, Norway, Finland and Israel have developed successful defence companies by aligning procurement with national priorities, supporting specialised sovereign capabilities and helping domestic firms access export markets.
Looking towards the next decade, Storey expects further consolidation across the Australian defence industry, alongside increased mergers and acquisitions as companies compete for a smaller number of major programs. Australia risks developing a narrower and less resilient defence industrial base unless procurement, sovereign capability and export policy are more closely aligned with the nation's long-term defence strategy, he warns.
Enjoy the podcast,
The Defence Connect team

Australia's push to develop autonomous ground systems has delivered promising prototypes and live-fire demonstrations, but land-based autonomy remains outside the Australian Defence Force's current priorities.

Speaking with news editor Robert Dougherty, Sightline Intelligence managing director Stephen Bornstein discusses the challenges facing Australia's emerging uncrewed ground vehicles sector and the growing importance of low-cost autonomous systems.
Cyborg Dynamics Engineering's Warfighter UGV progressed from a Queensland-developed platform into a military system, including live-fire Javelin and minigun trials in 2023. However, Bornstein says industry was already aware that land autonomy was being deprioritised ahead of the Defence Strategic Review.
By late 2023, Cyborg had pivoted towards firefighting and research applications, using those markets to continue developing the underlying technology.
Bornstein argues that while UGVs continue to appear at exercises and innovation programs, current funding remains largely experimental rather than sufficient to deliver a major land capability.
The pair also discuss Athena AI's integration into Sightline Intelligence and its subsequent acquisition by Acron Technologies; the company gained access to US opportunities that would have been difficult for an Australian-only business to pursue.
Looking towards Land Forces, Bornstein expects continued growth in lower-cost, disposable and attritable UGVs, alongside AI-enabled systems incorporating computer vision, terminal guidance and aided target recognition.
For Australia's defence industry, the challenge remains turning promising autonomous technologies from experimental projects into scalable, operational capabilities.
Enjoy the podcast,
The Defence Connect team

AI is pushing financial institutions to modernise, but the answer is not to replace everything. Banks should focus on the technology, data, and processes that directly support business outcomes.

AI is putting modernisation back on the executive agenda as legacy systems increasingly limit banks' ability to adopt AI, access data in real time, and respond to regulatory and resilience demands. Atos executives Dee Lawler and Matthew Hughes argue modernisation is now a business issue, not simply a technology refresh.
"The objective to modernise isn't to modernise the technology or the most technology," Hughes says. "It's to modernise the technology that matters most."
But banks should resist the temptation to make AI the answer to everything. Leaders should first identify the business outcome they want, then determine what is holding them back – whether that is technology, data, processes, skills, or risk. Incremental modernisation can reduce operational risk while allowing organisations to measure returns, with resilience and business continuity built into the design.
The takeaway for financial services leaders is simple: modernise where technology is constraining growth, efficiency, customer experience, or resilience – not simply because AI has created a sense of urgency.
Enjoy,
The Cyber Uncut team

Cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, AI enabled and difficult to attribute, creating growing risks for Australia's defence networks, critical infrastructure and broader economy, according to Glenn Maiden, chief security officer and director of threat intelligence for Australia and New Zealand at Fortinet.

The cyber threat landscape is increasingly blurring the lines between state-sponsored actors, cyber criminals and issue-motivated groups.
For Defence, cyber operations offer adversaries the ability to create significant effects without the geographical constraints, cost or attribution challenges associated with conventional weapons.
The challenge for Defence and industry is therefore not simply preventing compromise but building systems that can withstand it.
The message for Defence and industry is clear: cyber resilience must become an architectural priority rather than a reactive response. Strong security controls, multifactor authentication, password management, robust back-ups and resilient infrastructure can significantly reduce the impact of an inevitable attack.
The next challenge will be understanding the dependencies that connect Australia's economy, critical infrastructure and defence supply chains. Even a small business supplying a seemingly insignificant component could ultimately be critical to a major power plant or defence platform.
The cyber threat is real, but it is not insurmountable. With the right people, processes, technology and resilient architecture, Australia can mitigate the risks and ensure that a successful cyber intrusion does not automatically translate into a national crisis.
Enjoy the podcast,
The Defence Connect Spotlight team

AI is pushing financial institutions to modernise, but the answer is not to replace everything. Banks should focus on the technology, data, and processes that directly support business outcomes.

AI is putting modernisation back on the executive agenda as legacy systems increasingly limit banks' ability to adopt AI, access data in real time, and respond to regulatory and resilience demands. Atos executives Dee Lawler and Matthew Hughes argue modernisation is now a business issue, not simply a technology refresh.
"The objective to modernise isn't to modernise the technology or the most technology," Hughes says. "It's to modernise the technology that matters most."
But banks should resist the temptation to make AI the answer to everything. Leaders should first identify the business outcome they want, then determine what is holding them back – whether that is technology, data, processes, skills, or risk. Incremental modernisation can reduce operational risk while allowing organisations to measure returns, with resilience and business continuity built into the design.
The takeaway for financial services leaders is simple: modernise where technology is constraining growth, efficiency, customer experience, or resilience – not simply because AI has created a sense of urgency.
Enjoy,
The Cyber Uncut team