Low Cost Mass-Produced Drones: a Tactical Advantage
Air Marshal Chipman, former Chief of the Air Force, announced on the eve of the 2023 Avalon Air Show that Australia needs to consider and invest in low-cost mass-produced (LCMP) drones.
Items related to:
The Weaponisation of Toys and Implications for the Air Force
The 'poor man's air force' is a term for employing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hobbyist drones or uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to strategic level military effect, and that effect cannot be understated (Waters, 2018; Nadeau, 2022; Shift, 2023). The ability for terror organisations to coordinate multiple layers of effects, including using COTS drones, to destroy Command and Control (C2) nodes in Israel causes alarm. Couple this with the use of COTS drones for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, strike and battle-damage assessment missions, and the threat posed by what are essentially toys is alarmingly real.
Drone Swarms and their Potential within the Australian Defence Force
The onset of the war in Ukraine saw one of the most dramatic shifts in combined arms warfare since the introduction of the machine gun. This shift is attributed to the wide scale introduction of drones to the modern battlefield (Kagan et al, 2024). Principally the conflict is demonstrating drones pioneering new capabilities in reconnaissance, close air support and strategic strike with virtually zero risk to the operator.
Lessons for the ADF from Operation Spider's Web
Lessons for the ADF from Operation Spider's WebKeirin Joyce, Joshua Vicino, Michael Spencer, and Matthew ChapmanAustralian Defence Force
Swarms of Trouble: The Hidden Threat of Consumer UAVs
Technology usually follows a certain progression – first the device gets more features before it reduces in size. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) fill this description perfectly, and we have yet to come up with an adequate defence for them.
What Can the ADF Learn From Ukraine's Air Defences?
What Can the ADF Learn From Ukraine's Air Defences?Kurt SimmillAustralian Defence ForceWhen Russia invaded Ukraine in Febr
A Question of Choice and Strategy: Australia’s F-35 Acquisition
Limited by resources and size the F-35 was the best, and largely only, option available to the ADF that guaranteed long term defense interests.
Future ADF pilot training - virtual versus augmented reality
Train like we fight, fight like we train.
On the Quest to be Reasonably Informed: Recognition of Risk-Based Design in UAS
This time last year, in my first gig as a reservist, I had the pleasure of presenting to the 20th Australian International Aerospace Congress (AIAC20) on the topic of the MQ-4C Triton airworthiness program. Specifically, I spoke about how it had been structured in lieu of any formal recognition of the United States (US) Navy as a competent design organisation for Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) or any formal airworthiness certification of the design basis for the Triton system itself.
What is Air Force’s contribution to Joint Force Effects - both domestically and internationally?
Like all aspects of the ADF, the Air Force has the need to contribute and enable Australia’s larger national power strategies.
250
Results found