In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Michael Irwin, Founder and CEO of Breaker Industries, about how its autonomous platform turns human intent into robotic support.

We begin our discussion by getting a history of Michael’s career and Breaker Industries, and assess the differences between true autonomy vs remote control. We review how the system was built from the autonomous decision making protocols, to authentication and validation measures, and voice recognition training. Michael shares how the software is installed and the open modular design to connect many existing systems across multiple domains, making it integrate and adapt easily to hardware.

We wrap up by reviewing use cases for their autonomous platform, and get an overview of their current funding and future plans for expansion into the US market.

Links:

Breaker Industries

www.breakerindustries.com

Breaker hopes to solve autonomous orchestration problem

www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/breaker-hopes-to-solve-autonomous-orchestration-problem

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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).

The views of the people appearing on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Australian Defence Magazine, the Department of Defence or the guests' employer.

If you wish to use any of this podcast's audio, please contact Australian Defence Magazine via their website www.australiandefence.com.au or email them via defmag@yaffa.com.au to get involved.

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.

For sponsored content opportunities, please contact ADM Associate Publisher Kylie Leonard and/or National Sales Manager Michael Flanagan.

Hosted by Grant McHerron

Producer: Steve Visscher

Australian Defence Magazine - © 2026

In this episode, Grant McHerron talks with Pete Smith, CEO of Ocean Software, about their sovereign built software FlightPRO® and its global growth.

We begin our discussion by exploring Pete Smith's role as CEO of Ocean Software, focusing on their global growth in military training management and delve into Ocean's clients, including NATO members and European countries like Hungary, as well as outline how FlightPRO is used for tracking qualifications and managing wing operations. We then examine the challenges faced by defence forces regarding operational readiness and mission allocation and how they are addressed through data-driven analytics to increase efficiency and throughput in training programs. The conversation also covers trends such as supply chain resilience concerns and the need for faster speed-to-capability, emphasizing how their software enables warfighters to operate more effectively with fewer resources.

Finally, we wrap up by discussing future directions including their partnership with ILIAS Solutions to enhance operational readiness metrics across platforms such as the F-16 and the F-35.

Links:

Ocean Software:

ocean.software

Ocean Software provides Operations and Training Management System to Hungary

www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/ocean-software-provides-operations-and-training-management-system-to-hungary

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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).

The views of the people appearing on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Australian Defence Magazine, the Department of Defence or the guests' employer.

If you wish to use any of this podcast's audio, please contact Australian Defence Magazine via their website www.australiandefence.com.au or email them via defmag@yaffa.com.au to get involved.

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.

For sponsored content opportunities, please contact ADM Associate Publisher Kylie Leonard and/or National Sales Manager Michael Flanagan.

Hosted by Grant McHerron

Producer: Steve Visscher

Australian Defence Magazine - © 2026

This episode collects a number of interviews recorded at the Singapore Airshow 2026 during February. The episode starts with Dan McQuestin, Business Development Director at Bell, who discusses their 429 and 505 aircraft, virtual reality in their simulators, and the 505's ability to fly with or without augmentation to cover basic through to advanced training. We also talk about their involvement with military training, including the US Army's Flight School Next program, South Korea's military, and others, plus the recently released request from the ADF for a service to augment maintaining pilot currency.

=—-=

Next up is Greg Elliott, Senior Manager Military Sales & Strategy, IndoPac at Bell, who steps us through his career from flying A-4 Skyhawks with the RNZAF to being an Air Commodore with the RAAF and how he transitioned to Bell and rotorcraft. We review the MV-75 tilt rotor aircraft, previously known as the V-280 Valor, which is the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) for the US military and will replace the UH-60 Black Hawk. The conversation also touches upon design features, key capabilities and the accelerated delivery the US military have asked for.

=—-=

Moving to space and data intelligence, Dr Abhay Mittal, founder and CEO of Aetosky, talks to us about his company's use of AI to process geospatial data and intelligence information to generate location intelligence, facilitating dynamic updates and historical views of given locations. He also notes that their systems can be cloud based or on stand-alone systems to address data sovereignty, along with their recent arrangement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to provide and scale storage and computing power for their clients. We wrap up by discussing Aetosky's interest in the Australian market.

=—-=

Wrapping up the episode is James “McGoo” McGovern (former F-15E pilot) and David Bradshaw (Royal Air Force veteran) who review their careers to date and working at Top Aces. The conversation delves into Top Aces' role in providing adversary air training services globally, including their flagship F-16 capabilities. We discuss how Top Aces collaborates with partners like the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and German Luftwaffe, focusing on replicating credible threats affordably to train military pilots effectively. Their proprietary Advanced Aggressor Mission System enables this flexible training approach across various aircraft platforms.

Links:

Bell 429, 505 and MV-75

www.bellflight.com/products/bell-429

www.bellflight.com/products/bell-505

www.bellflight.com/products/bell-mv-75

Aetosky

www.aetosky.com

Top Aces

topaces.com

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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).

The views of the people appearing on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Australian Defence Magazine, the Department of Defence or the guests' employer.

If you wish to use any of this podcast's audio, please contact Australian Defence Magazine via their website www.australiandefence.com.au or email them via defmag@yaffa.com.au to get involved.

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.

For sponsored content opportunities, please contact ADM Associate Publisher Kylie Leonard and/or National Sales Manager Michael Flanagan.

Hosted by Grant McHerron

Producer: Steve Visscher

Australian Defence Magazine - © 2026