{"podcast":{"title":"Defence & Security Podcast Network","slug":"defence-security-podcast-network-607233","podcast_index_feed_id":607233,"rss_url":"https://defenceconnect.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://www.defenceconnect.com.au/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/b/7/3/9/b739dd59f139871816c3140a3186d450/Defence__Security_podcast_network.jpg","author":"Defence Connect","episode_count":863,"summary":"The Defence & Security Podcast Network hosts a unique series of podcasts, featuring discussions with key enablers from across the Australian defence and security industry. The podcasts provide the perfect blend of business intelligence and insights from a range of guests, which include government officials, ADF personnel, industry stakeholders, and members of the academic community. By aligning ourselves with the ADF and the Commonwealth government, we are uniquely placed to deliver a dynamic 360° platform that bridges the gap between the customer (Defence) and industry. We split our focus not just into the traditional sectors of Land (Army), Air (Air Force) and Sea (Navy), but into the six new Capability Streams: - Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare and Cyber - Key Enablers - Air and Sea Lift - Maritime and Anti-Submarine Warfare - Strike and Air Combat - Land Combat and Amphibious Warfare As Defence moves to ensure the Force Structure Review and the First Principles Review: Creating One Defence plans are met, Australian industry involvement is critical for mission success. The Defence & Security Podcast Network will provide you and your business with…","last_synced_at":"2026-06-09T16:18:02.313563+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/defence-security-podcast-network-607233"},"episode":{"title":"SPOTLIGHT: Building mass, capability and trust with autonomous and uncrewed systems, with Michael Mitchell, Elysium EPL director","slug":"spotlight-building-mass-capability-and-trust-with-autonomous-and-uncrewed-systems-with-michael-mitchell-elysium-epl-director","published_at":"2026-06-09T06:04:21+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/defence-security-podcast-network-607233/spotlight-building-mass-capability-and-trust-with-autonomous-and-uncrewed-systems-with-michael-mitchell-elysium-epl-director","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/defence-security-podcast-network-607233","url":"https://defenceconnect.libsyn.com/spotlight-building-mass-capability-and-trust-with-autonomous-and-uncrewed-systems-with-michael-mitchell-elysium-epl-director","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/defenceconnect/DCS_Michael_Mitchell_-_Elysium_260514_mixdown.mp3?dest-id=715252","summary":"Australia's maritime estate is simply too vast for any conventionally manned fleet to patrol effectively – uncrewed and autonomous systems will prove key to maintaining Australia's maritime sovereignty. With an exclusive economic zone stretching across roughly 8.2 million square kilometres and critical northern chokepoints through which virtually all the nation's fuel and essential imports flow, the conversation establishes from the outset that the case for autonomous maritime systems isn't about technological novelty, it's about geographic necessity. In this episode of the Defence Connect Spotlight podcast, host Steve Kuper speaks with Elysium EPL director Michael \"Mitch\" Mitchell where they discuss the increasing proliferation of autonomous and uncrewed systems with the Royal Australian Navy. Drawing on his experience as a submariner, Mitchell's first and most important argument is the persistence imperative. Manned patrol vessels, however capable, are constrained by crew welfare, logistics and port rotations. Autonomous platforms carry none of that overhead. They can loiter on station for days or weeks, consuming far fewer resources and requiring only remote oversight. His second key argument is a conceptual reframe: stop thinking about platforms and start thinking about payloads. The hull, in Mitchell's framework, is just a delivery mechanism. What matters is the modularity of what it carries – sonar, radar, sonobuoys, acoustic modems, hydrographic sensors – and whether those payloads can be swapped rapidly to meet different mission requirements. They also discuss Elysium EPL's dual-use certification approach, deliberately avoiding ITAR-restricted components, which is presented as proof of concept for this philosophy in practice. Perhaps the most culturally challen…","meta_description":"Australia's maritime estate is simply too vast for any conventionally manned fleet to patrol effectively – uncrewed and autonomous systems will prove key…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1907,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/defence-security-podcast-network-607233/episodes/spotlight-building-mass-capability-and-trust-with-autonomous-and-uncrewed-systems-with-michael-mitchell-elysium-epl-director/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/defence-security-podcast-network-607233/spotlight-building-mass-capability-and-trust-with-autonomous-and-uncrewed-systems-with-michael-mitchell-elysium-epl-director.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}