ABOUT THIS EPISODE
This episode collects a number of interviews recorded at the Indo Pacific 2025 event held in Sydney at the start of November. Starting with William Egan, Senior Vice President - Sales & Marketing at Teledyne Marine, covering the company's water gliders, which are designed for long duration deep ocean travel, as per their Sentinel Mission circumnavigating the world. We then assess their modular design that allows changing sensor packs for various missions like surveying and surveillance, and review the importance of seabed mapping and projects such as Seabed 2030, which highlights how these technologies enable discovery of new marine species and support safe submarine operations with forward-looking sonars.
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Next up are John Eva, Senior Director - Sales & BD Asia Pacific, and Nathan Grove, Director APAC BD & Sales, both with Teledyne FLIR Defense. Our discussion reviews the company's advancements in forward-looking infrared technology for various platforms, including drones and vessels. We explore how AI enhances sensor feeds for threat detection and classification, reducing cognitive load on operators while improving situational awareness across different missions.
We wrap up by assessing their ecosystem approach of partnering with competitors under open system architecture to support integration efforts globally. The discussion highlights strong market opportunities in Australia and the Asia Pacific region, including Southeast Asia due to ongoing conflicts, and emphasizes their role in AUKUS partnerships for interoperability.
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We then get an update from John Fry, Managing Director of Kongsberg Defence Australia. Our discussion explores Kongsberg Defence Australia's current activities surrounding the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and Joint Strike Missile programs. We discuss the recent Australian-made certification for NSM launchers, along with progress on the new missile fabrication environment under construction at Newcastle airport, highlighting its complexity compared to a warehouse and its forecast for local build of NSM and JSM commencing in early 2027. We wrap up by assessing the recent successful test firing of StikeMaster in Norway using a Bushmaster platform to launch an NSM blast test vehicle, and potential export opportunities for missiles made in Australia.
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On the Leidos stand we receive an update from Vice Admiral (Rt’d) Frank Pandolfe, Vice President and Strategic Account Executive for the Navy and Marine Corps, and Kevin “Q” Quarderer, Director Science and Technology. Our discussion explores Leidos' approach to autonomous systems in the maritime environment, including their long-term work with unmanned vessels like Seahawk and Seahunter for the Navy and partners. We then assess how they are developing a common operating architecture for different vessel scales, emphasizing modular open systems for plug-and-play capabilities, before reviewing lessons learned on training humans to use and maintain these technologies effectively, and the deterrence effect of autonomous systems from operational insights in Ukraine where low-cost unmanned platforms complicate adversary decision-making.
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Wrapping up the episode is Sam Vye, CEO & Founder of SYOS Aerospace regarding the company's range of autonomous unmanned vehicles covering the air, land, sea, and subsurface domains, which focus on providing industry leading capability at an affordable price point. We explore its modular software approach, the strategic partnership with Starboard Maritime Intelligence, and expansion into Australia with a focus on providing long term capability development.
Link:
Sentinel Mission: Redwing Glider Launches Historic Global Ocean Expedition
www.teledynemarine.com/sentinelmission
Teledyne FLIR Defense
Kongsberg Defence Australia
www.kongsberg.com/kda/Who-we-are/australia
Leidos Autonomous Solutions
www.leidos.com/capabilities/integrated-systems/autonomy-and-autonomous-solutions
SYOS Aerospace
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