Defence & Security Podcast Network

How is AI reshaping the cyber threat landscape, and how can the defence industry respond to new threats giving attackers unprecedented speed and scale? Speaking with Defence Connect news editor Robert Dougherty, Palo Alto Networks chief security intelligence officer Wendi Whitmore and industry principal Tom Scully discuss the rise of frontier AI and its implications for military networks, critical infrastructure, and Australia's defence supply chain.

The trio examine how AI is accelerating cyber attacks, allowing adversaries to identify previously obscure vulnerabilities and target smaller organisations across defence supply chains. They also discuss lessons from contemporary conflicts, where cyber operations are increasingly integrated with conventional military activity.

The conversation explores the growing importance of AI-enabled cyber defence, zero trust architectures, and treating military networks as weapon systems rather than traditional IT infrastructure.

Looking ahead, Whitmore and Scully discuss securing autonomous AI agents, protecting AUKUS information sharing and preparing Defence and industry for increasingly AI-enabled cyber warfare.

Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

Defence Connect co-hosts Phil Tarrant and news editor Robert Dougherty discuss the latest developments shaping Australia's defence industry and national security environment. The pair examine Australia's recently released 2026 Intergenerational Report, defence workforce requirements, and preparations for Land Forces 2026.

The podcast conversation includes the following topics:

• The long-term implications of demographic, economic, and geopolitical change for defence.
• The extension of the ADF Reserve liability period and the importance of retaining experienced military personnel.
• Land Forces 2026 and new security arrangements surrounding the major defence industry exhibition.
• The establishment of the Cyber Reserve and new pathways for attracting specialist technology talent into Defence.
• Security vulnerabilities surrounding Australian defence bases, including drone incursions and physical access to military facilities.

Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

Australia and the United Kingdom share one of the world's deepest strategic relationships – but in an increasingly contested geopolitical environment, that partnership is taking on new significance. In this episode of Contested Ground, Phillip Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson are joined by acting British high commissioner to Australia Dr Brian Jones to unpack the future of AUKUS, the UK's growing Indo-Pacific focus, and the security challenges binding the two nations more closely together.

They also explore the enormous industrial opportunity behind AUKUS, the role Australian businesses and technology can play in UK and allied defence supply chains, and why economic, technological, and national security cooperation is becoming increasingly inseparable.

It's a wide-ranging discussion on deterrence, defence industry, sovereign capability, and the enduring trust underpinning the Australia–UK relationship. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

Australia's plan to divest 68 surplus Defence sites presents an opportunity to reduce estate costs while creating new housing, industrial, community, and environmental outcomes, according to Stantec Australia's Tony Rogers, Leigh McDonald, and Nick Glasson.

The Defence estate spans around 3.5 million hectares, with the government identifying sites that are underutilised or surplus to future Defence requirements.

The divestment program is not simply about raising money through land sales. Instead, it is intended to reduce the cost of maintaining an ageing and increasingly complex estate, while consolidating Defence functions into more suitable and modern facilities.

However, each site presents different challenges, including contamination, PFAS, unexploded ordnance, heritage protections, environmental constraints, infrastructure requirements, and planning considerations.

The future use of each site will therefore need to reflect its local context. Potential outcomes could include housing, commercial, and industrial development, community infrastructure, environmental restoration, or continued use for the defence industry.

Early engagement between Defence, government, industry, developers, and local communities will be critical to identifying viable outcomes and ensuring remediation and infrastructure requirements align with the eventual use of each site.

Ultimately, a successful transition will not simply be measured by the highest sale price, but by whether former Defence land can deliver sustainable long-term value while protecting Defence capability, managing environmental and heritage risks, and contributing to surrounding communities.

Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team

Phil Tarrant is joined by Space Industry Association of Australia CEO Dan Lloyd and chairman Darin Lovett to examine Australia's growing dependence on space and the strategic implications of an increasingly contested space domain. They unpack the critical role space plays across Australia's economy and national security, from positioning, navigation and timing, and communications to defence, transport, energy, agriculture, and emergency services.

Does Australia have the strategy, investment, and risk appetite needed to turn its space ambitions into a practical national capability?

Genetec's Lee Shelford says AI and cloud are giving security teams faster investigations while turning physical security systems into tools for broader business operations. Organisations should stop treating AI as a box-ticking exercise and focus on where it can deliver measurable operational gains, according to Genetec's Lee Shelford.

Speaking on the Cyber Uncut podcast with David Hollingworth, Shelford says AI-powered video analytics can cut investigations from hours to minutes, allowing operators to find people, vehicles, objects, and behaviours using natural-language searches and respond while incidents are still unfolding.

Shelford urges organisations to look beyond traditional surveillance, with Genetec combining video, access control, vehicle recognition, communications, and IoT data through a single interface. The technology can also support use cases beyond security, including bushfire detection, remote monitoring, car park management, and improving the movement of people and vehicles through airports and shopping centres.

According to Shelford, remote management can eliminate the need for onsite upgrades and configuration, while AI can reduce the manual tuning previously required as conditions change. But cyber security must remain central, with Genetec having pursued Australian requirements, including IRAP assessment and Essential Eight alignment. Enjoy, The Cyber Uncut team

Breaking barriers and building the skills needed to shape the future of Australia's aerospace and defence industries. RMIT University aerospace engineering and logistics supply chain student Viviene Beins shares her experience competing in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design/Build/Fly competition in the US, where she helped lead the composite manufacturing of an aircraft and has now taken on a co-lead role for the next 2026–27 team.

In this episode of The Progress Report, news editor Robert Dougherty sits down with Beins to discuss her journey into aerospace engineering, the challenges women face in entering traditionally male-dominated fields, and the importance of mentorship, perseverance, and strong female leadership.

The pair also explore the subtle barriers women can face in university and engineering environments, factors often overlooked that can discourage women from pursuing careers in STEM.

Beyond gender diversity, Beines reflects on what the Australian aerospace and defence industry can do to attract and retain the next generation of engineers, including providing opportunities for career mobility, skills development, and exposure to cutting-edge programs such as the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed aircraft program.

The Progress Report. New voices. Real stories. Big shifts.

Enjoy the podcast, The Progress Report team

Defence Connect relaunches our podcast with co-host Phil Tarrant, joined by news editor Robert Dougherty, to discuss the latest developments shaping Australia's defence industry. The pair discuss defence spending, AUKUS, sovereign capability, emerging technologies, and the growing strategic importance of Western Australia.

The podcast conversation includes the following topics:

• Australia's defence spending trajectory and the importance of export opportunities.
• AUKUS and opportunities for Australian companies across the trilateral supply chain.
• The strategic significance of Western Australia and its growing defence infrastructure.
• The People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and the evolving regional security environment.
• Austal and the importance of maintaining sovereign shipbuilding capability.
• New missile and air-defence capabilities, including JASSM-ER, LRASM, and NASAMS.
• The rise of drones, autonomy and new approaches to defence innovation.
• Project AIR 6500 and the development of a more integrated battlefield network.
• The potential role of deployable microreactors for military and space applications.

Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect team

Phil Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson examine the growing debate over Australia's economic direction, drawing on Chris Uhlmann's recent article in The Australian on the "Argentinisation" of Australia. They unpack the risks posed by weak productivity, rising regulation, higher costs, and falling investment – and ask what sustained economic underperformance could mean for housing, business confidence, and the nation's broader strategic strength. Because if Australia enters an increasingly contested world from a position of economic weakness, its ability to fund defence, build sovereign capability, and protect its national interests becomes a much bigger question.

Australia's emerging defence technology priorities will only deliver their full potential if they are integrated into a broader operational framework connecting platforms, people, data and decision making, according to Microsoft global defence and intelligence solutions manager Jonathon Beesley and Atturra defence lead Richard Campbell, chief executive officer of SME Gateway. The 2026 Defence Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy identifies long-range fires and hypersonics, high-energy lasers, autonomous systems, quantum, artificial intelligence and undersea warfare as key priorities.

But translating these capabilities into an integrated force will require Defence to look beyond individual platforms and focus on the architecture connecting sensors, command nodes, decision makers and shooters.

Cloud technology can provide the backbone for this integration, enabling Defence to process the growing volume, variety and velocity of data reaching commanders and personnel at the tactical edge.

AI and autonomous systems can then help fuse that information and provide decision advantage, but humans must remain responsible for critical decisions. Building trust in these systems will be essential, particularly as Defence operates increasingly complex joint and coalition missions.

Australia also cannot be self-reliant in every capability. Instead, it must identify where sovereign control is essential while maintaining secure interoperability with trusted allies.

The experience of Ukraine has demonstrated the value of rapidly adopting and adapting technology, highlighting the importance of a defence culture capable of learning at pace.

For Australia, the next advantage may therefore be a learning advantage; ensuring Defence and industry can understand, adopt and adapt emerging technologies quickly enough to meet the strategic challenges ahead.

Enjoy the podcast, The Defence Connect Spotlight team