In this News Review episode, Grant McHerron and Ewen Levick review and discuss some of the recent news of interest that's occurred recently in the world of Defence.

We start off with the big topic of the USA bombing Iran with the deception of B-2s going West, Israel's air superiority reducing the assets required, and the first combat use of the GBU-57 Massive Ordinance Penetrators. While this will have caused havoc for Iran's centrifuges we note that wars are very easy to start but very hard to stop and discuss bombing from the air working best in support of a ground campaign.

This leads to a discussion on the USAF B-2s achieving the remote, deep strike mission that the AUKUS submarines are supposed to achieve. Would a squadron of B-21s be cheaper and more effective or are there other ways to meet our goals that are more inline with Australia's economic capabilities? After all, Ukraine is showing that it's possible to defend your shores from a more powerful fleet with inexpensive drones so perhaps Australia should reassess what works best for our budget?

That said, a recent report in War On The Rocks indicates that FPV drones are only succeeding 20-30% of the time and that well placed mortar rounds are more cost effective. Once again, there is no silver bullet and FPV drones become yet another weapon in the armory of capabilities that need to be used together to achieve results.

We wrap with a quick discussion about CIVMEC acquiring Luerssen Australia, the upcoming South Australian Defence Summit in July and the Western Australia Defence Forum in August, both of which ADM will be attending. Come and say Hi if you see us there.

Links:

Why FPV drones kind of suck

warontherocks.com/2025/06/i-fought-in-ukraine-and-heres-why-fpv-drones-kind-of-suck

CIVMEC to acquire Luerssen Australia

www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/civmec-to-acquire-luerssen-australia

ADM South Australian Defence Summit

admevents.com.au/adm-south-australian-defence-summit

Western Australia Defence Summit

admevents.com.au/western-australia-defence-forum

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The ADM Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Australian Defence Magazine, a Yaffa Media title (www.australiandefence.com.au).

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ADM Podcasts are a blend of public interest journalism and sponsored content with a focus on the Defence community. Conversations with leaders and thinkers from a range of backgrounds including academia, Defence, industry, and associations. ADM Podcasts aims to educate, explain and explore some of the bigger issues around Defence.

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Hosted by Grant McHerron

Producer: Steve Visscher

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