Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 43 minutes ago
Generating operational mass in the Indo-Pacific requires new approaches to projecting, sustaining and employing military power across vast distances and contested environments.
At the 2026 ASPI Defence Conference, Dr Shannon Zimmerman, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies at Deakin University, chaired a discussion with Air Vice-Marshal Nicholas Hogan CSC, Head of Air Force Capability for the Royal Australian Air Force, His Excellency Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia, and Mark Palmer, Vice President of Vision Systems at Shield AI, on how Australia can generate greater operational mass through autonomous and semi-autonomous systems while adapting Defence, industry and military concepts to exploit them effectively.
Drawing on operational lessons from Ukraine, the panel explored how rapid innovation, continuous adaptation and trusted autonomy can generate greater military effect, enable decision-making in contested environments, and help armed forces keep pace with an adversary’s evolving tactics.
Generating operational mass in the Indo-Pacific requires new approaches to projecting, sustaining and employing military power across vast distances and contested environments.
At the 2026 ASPI Defence Conference, Dr Shannon Zimmerman, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies at Deakin University, chaired a discussion with Air Vice-Marshal Nicholas Hogan CSC, Head of Air Force Capability for the Royal Australian Air Force, His Excellency Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia, and Mark Palmer, Vice President of Vision Systems at Shield AI, on how Australia can generate greater operational mass through autonomous and semi-autonomous systems while adapting Defence, industry and military concepts to exploit them effectively.
Drawing on operational lessons from Ukraine, the panel explored how rapid innovation, continuous adaptation and trusted autonomy can generate greater military effect, enable decision-making in contested environments, and help armed forces keep pace with an adversary’s evolving tactics.
