From Drone Racing to Military Operations

Did you hear a *THUD* when this episode arrived in your player? Weighing in at two hours and fourty one minutes, this episode is packed with content recorded at the Military International Drone Racing Tournament in Sydney back in March 2026, along with a great chat with WGCDR Keirin Joyce, one of the people organising the event. Unless you're going on a long journey, we suspect you'll need your pause button a few times on this episode, but it's worth listening all the way through to the end, and not just because the Australian Defence Force Drone Racing Team are the reigning champions following back-to-back victories in the Australian and Sydney events this year.

The enormous stack of interviews in this episode unfold as:

0:00:50 – We kick it off with an overview of what this episode is about.

0:02:53 – Our discussion starts with WGCDR Keirin Joyce of the RAAF talking about the growth of military drone racing, Australia’s winning record, international competition, technology development and lessons from Ukraine.

0:16:11 – CAPT Tom Gash discusses the Richmond tactical events including payload delivery, aerial interception, scoring, equipment and safety.

0:24:14 – FSGT Justin Galbraith talks about the autonomous fixed-wing targets being used at the tactical events, covering interception tactics and the importance of the drone team’s spotter.

0:28:18 – Sid from CubePilot talks about their Cube Orange+ product, using the ArduPilot system, and autonomous target aircraft operations.

0:32:43 – LTCOL Raymond Brin, CO of the 9th Regiment Royal Army Artillery, talks about the use of UAS in Army UAS for ISR, along with operational drone capability and careers.

0:39:38 – We present a promotion for our latest podcast production: A History of the Future, then tell you a little about it.

0:40:34 – WGCDR Joyce returns to talk about the different groups involved in Military Drone Racing, including cadets and veterans, along with international teams, and the Defence and Industry careers that many young FPV pilots progress towards.

0:45:18 – We then move on to discussing the ADF’s top-down innovation units and disruptive experimentation to assess the application of new innovative concepts to Defence.

0:47:40 – This includes the use of an autonomous Jabiru light sport aircraft under Project Camel Train, and the Aladdin capability which is providing a precision logistics delivery system via drones.

0:52:25 – Payu and Angus are from the Australian Cadet Drone Racing Team and they talk about the importance of STEM, being in cadets, the fun and development they’re experiencing with drone racing, and their potential Defence pathways ahead of them.

0:58:59 – PTE Hamish Glover returns to the show to talk about the Army Drone Racing Team and the experiences he’s had racing, older versus newer technology, and tactical challenges.

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