Asia Pacific Defence Reporter

By APDR

These podcasts are a way of shedding a bit more light on Defence decisions – particularly acquisitions – because the system has become secretive and taxpayers have a right to know what’s going on.&

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FAQs about Asia Pacific Defence Reporter:

How many episodes does Asia Pacific Defence Reporter have?

The podcast currently has 121 episodes available.

Asia Pacific Defence Reporter episodes:

November 17, 2025 Episode 118
We start with some more information about the major Indo-Pacific maritime conference in Sydney and the description of it by Defence Minister Richard Marles as a type of Disneyland. Unfortunately, this is emblematic of the trivialisation of Defence topics in this country and partly explains why there has never been a serious discussion about acquiring nuclear powered submarines, or many of the embarrassing details of SEA 3000. Looking internationally, the US is behaving erratically with President Donald Trump now being openly bribed. Is this how a reliable security partner behaves? On top of that, there might be a few more problems coming up for the pace of US submarine construction.

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20min
November 10, 2025 Episode 117
The Indo-Pacific Maritime Expo had quite a few submarine related news items and we look at a few of them, including about future Combat Management Systems. Unfortunately, most journalists continue to act as government stenographers and are either unable or unwilling to ask any awkward questions about AUKUS. It's not clear why when there are many issues that still need to be understood. To make sure that never happens, the government and coalition have disgracefully joined forces to block a Senate inquiry into the matter. The terms of reference are entirely reasonable and would have provided the Australian people with much needed information - but we can't have that. Some words about South Korea - and they will probably have their own nuclear-powered submarines before the first SSN-AUKUS is even launched. Finally a question - does the ADF believe in extra-judicial killings?
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20min
November 03, 2025 Episode 116
It's been a big week in South Korea with the Presidents of the US and China meeting on the fringes of APEC. Another related development was the US agreeing to help South Korea develop nuclear powered submarines. The Australian reaction has been predictably snarky and ill-tempered as people to start to realise we aren't as special as we have been telling everyone we are. While it's early days, it looks like South Korea will be building new submarines for themselves, not buying second hand clunkers from the US that we have fallen for. Finally, the Trump-Xi meeting looks like it has been a major win for China. No surprise there.
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18min
October 27, 2025 Episode 115
Before discussing Korean defence industry and the huge ADEX show in Seoul, some words about the state of the US, which seems to be in a political mess. The problem with all the positive coverage of the Donald Trump - Anthony Albanese meeting a week ago is it risks blinding people to the obvious reality that the US might not be in a position to defend anyone. We could be reaching that point much sooner than anyone anticipated - and Australians have to start thinking seriously about that prospect. Thankfully for defence equipment, there are some alternatives, including from South Korean defence industry. The capabilities of the Republic of Korea are extraordinary, and the rate of growth seems to be increasing - and we have a quick look at the KF-21 supersonic jet fighter. A stealth version of it will appear soon - and it will be similar in performance to Australia's F-35s.
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21min
October 22, 2025 Episode 114
It's happened - the long awaited meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump has occurred - and the Australian reporting of it has varied from average to woeful. It could have been much worse - but it has not altered the fundamentals of AUKUS Pillar One. If the US was serious about selling second hand Virginia class submarines to us, President $TRUMP could authorise the deal now with the transfer occurring in the 2030s - but the US won't do that. The critical minerals agreement is just as unnecessary as expected. Back in Australia, there's some very good news about domestic guided weapons manufacture with a three way deal between ourselves, Lockheed Martin and the US. We also ponder why it is that Ministers tell obvious untruths and falsehoods.
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21min
October 13, 2025 Episode 113
The big international story is the ceasefire in Gaza - and thank goodness for that.
Can US President Donald Trump claim it as a personal success? Absolutely!
From what we can piece together, he was somehow able to persuade Hamas to trust Israel and at the same time finally got tough with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Let's hope the peace lasts, but with Israel's current policy settings that looks unlikely. We also preview our PM's meeting with Trump scheduled for October 20 - and let's hope there isn't any grovelling or attempts to appease the US by giving away lots of stuff.
And finally a few depressing words about who really sets Australian security policy - and it's not governments or Ministers, it's a very powerful group of bureaucrats who have talked themselves into the belief that Australia cannot defend itself unaided. This has become a litmus test for admission into the group and has poisoned the minds of a number of Ministers.
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19min
October 07, 2025 Episode 112
Better late than never, we start by looking at the Australia-PNG defence treaty, which has now been signed by the Prime Ministers of both countries.

While generally a good thing, there are questions about how suitable it is for PNG's needs and whether it could act as a vehicle for a conflict with Indonesia.

Then some words about US and Australian military cultures - and what will happen if they become completely incompatible. In the extraordinary meeting on September 30 with the entire US military hierarchy, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth made it clear that they only want white, male, Christian nationalists in the ranks.

And some thoughts on why people in the US have suddenly started being so publicly supportive of AUKUS.
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22min
September 29, 2025 Episode 111
This week there's a lot to talk about internationally because PM Anthony Albanese has been in the US and the UK. For the latter visit, the attitude of the Australian media has been displaying cultural cringe at its worst. Please understand that Australia does not need to "shore up" AUKUS because it's the UK begging us for our dollars. The PM now has a meeting with US President Donald Trump on October 20 and who knows how that will go because if Mr Trump's rambling, incoherent speech to the United Nations was anything to go by, he appears to have lost his mind. Finally a few more brief words about Xinjiang - and anyone who wants to understand China today has to look at the last 200 years of history.
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21min
September 22, 2025 Episode 110
This podcast was recorded in Beijing at the end of a 12 day visit to China, the bulk of which was spent in the Xinjiang Autonomous region looking at topics such as the Belt & Road Initiative and the status of the Uighur ethnic community. But it has still been possible to keep an eye on events in Australia such as the supposed $12 billion investment in the Henderson maritime precinct and the failure to secure treaties with Vanuatu and now PNG. Plenty of egg on face for those - though the setbacks might be temporary. Also, the US seems to be descending into fascism, not that any Australian politicians care. Finally, some words about the treatment of the Uighurs. Has there been repression? Yes. But no one talks about the reasons why - dozens of extremely violent terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists during a 20 year period.

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21min
September 09, 2025 Episode 109
A correction to start with - Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles have a range of 3,000km, not the 1,000km mentioned in the previous podcast, giving rise to the question: if Ukraine can develop their own long-range cruise missiles, why can't Australia? Next we have the comical renaming of the US Defense Department to the War Department, as if this will do anything other than expose the Trump administration to more ridicule. Make no mistake, continuing pro-Russia actions make it abundantly clear that President Trump is not a supporter of democracies - and that could extend to Australia as the US retreats slowly into a posture of homeland defence. We look at nuclear submarine numbers in the US and UK with new analysis provided by retired submariner RADM Peter Briggs and it's not a pretty picture. If only we had stuck with France.
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21min

FAQs about Asia Pacific Defence Reporter:

How many episodes does Asia Pacific Defence Reporter have?

The podcast currently has 121 episodes available.

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