The Edge

Victory in the Age of Cyber-Enabled Warfare

Future conflicts will not be won in cyberspace, but they can most certainly be lost there.

Product innovation success in the ADF – an exploratory study

It is possible for Australian defence companies and the Australian Defence Organisation to achieve greater success and better mitigate the financial, technical and schedule risks in developing new, technology-based  equipment and services for the ADF.

The research leading to this conclusion was based on case studies of 20 successful and unsuccessful Australian defence projects, and addressed three key questions:

Are we ready for machines to learn and make decisions for us?

LTCOL Jasmin Diab uses the example of her recent work in supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency to ask us to consider the future of machine learning and its ability to support military decision making.

Changes in warfare in the 16th and 17th centuries - a ‘military revolution’?

The 16th and 17th century was a period of significant change in the character of war. The drivers accounting for these changes were not all based in military reforms, despite Western Europe being engaged almost continuously in war. While tactical applications is interesting, it was the beginnings of some profound changes in the development of warfare; the professional military, the standing army, scale of warfare and subsequent emergence of the state (Crown) owning the monopoly on violence and the arrival of proper naval forces.

Mobilisation in the Information Technology Era

Our fundamental ideas about mobilisation are being challenged under the impact of the IT revolution. Impacting all of us, this is an area deserving our close attention.

Autonomous Systems, Auftragstaktik, and Governance.

This paper considers the importance of governance to the ability for the ADF to conduct mission command based operations. This examines the criticality of trust to the success of this operational concept and therefore the role governance will play in establishing trust in autonomous systems.

Augmented Reality and the Future of Learning and Business

Our interaction with the technological world today is changing rapidly. We are no longer limited by screens or even reality as we knew it. David Rapien walks us through the history and differences of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality and looks towards the future options of these technologies in life, business and education.

How Biased Minds can be the Key to Unbiased AI Systems

The TED Talk examines the origins of Cognitive Bias, its advantages, drawbacks and challenges with Biased AI. The solution might lie within ourselves.

The Future is here! 5th Generation Air Force

The F-35 heralds a revolution in how the ADF will fight, as units learn to integrate with 5th Generation technologies and operate as a network, leveraging stealth and information fusion. This article explores the ‘night versus day’ change, which opens the door for related opportunities including man-machine teaming and the ‘loyal wingman’ concept.

Jamie Cullens Defence Essay Competition - 2018 Winners

The annual Jamie Cullens Defence Leadership and Ethics Essay Competition was established in 2018 to promote critical thinking and discussion around contemporary leadership and ethics, and considerations for ethical issues for the future of the profession of arms. The Forge welcomes you to read the prize winning essays for 2018.

ANU's support to JPME at the ACSC

A short essay on the Military and Defence Studies Program taught by the ANU's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, the significance of ANU's research-based teaching on strategy, leadership and military history, and on the need to remain nimble minded for what happens next.

Science Fiction, JPME and the Australian Defence College

On science fiction, JPME and thinking about future military institutions.