Colin Clark, the founding editor of Breaking Defense, is now our Indo-Pacific Bureau Chief, based in Sydney, Australia. In addition to his foundational efforts at Breaking Defense, Colin also started DoDBuzz.com, the world’s first all-online defense news website. He’s covered Congress, intelligence and regulatory affairs for Space News; founded and edited the Washington Aerospace Briefing, a newsletter for the space industry; covered national security issues for Congressional Quarterly; and was editor of Defense News. Colin is an avid fisherman, grill genius and wine drinker, all of which are only part of the reason he relishes the opportunity to live in Australia.
"For those who believe it's about technology, I tell you the solution is about human capital and processes," Marco Criscuolo, NATO's acting head of strategy and policy, told the conference.
"Clearly, the reason this is happening is because the existing organizational structure is showing deficiencies in terms of delivering key defense projects on time and on budget," Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says.
Cyber resilience has become a frontline mission for the US military. Breaking Defense’s new eBook rounds up key reporting from the 2025 Alamo ACE conference with the latest developments in cyber offense and defense.
Experts warned there's no single government agency in charge of monitoring, defending and repairing the cables, and no effective deterrent strategy.
"So, our plan, our mission, is to make safe, clean, protected oceans, and to do that, we want to be the global industrial leader for maritime autonomy and robotics, essentially like the Microsoft of the ocean," Greenroom Robotics co-founder Harry Hubbert said.
Separately, Papua New Guinea and Australia are set to sign a new security agreement.
"Politically, Modi cannot be seen to be endorsing the glory" of the Chinese military, Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor at Singapore National University, told Breaking Defense.
Onshoring and investment in military-specific semiconductors anchor a cornerstone of the defense industrial base.
"It shows how close we are to an incident that triggers a wider diplomatic and military crisis," China analyst Euan Graham said.
Amid debate over aircraft carriers' vulnerability, analysts told Breaking Defense global interest is strong.
The “cancellation of this dialogue is disappointing and counterproductive for alliance interests,” Rory Medcalf, head of the Australian National University’s National Security College, said. “It is in the interests of both countries that such dialogues resume as soon as possible.”
“There's a schedule of payments to be made. We have an agreement with the United States as well as with the United Kingdom, it is about increasing their capacity, their industrial capacity,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
"As the geopolitical landscape rapidly shifts, half the population (51%) say Australia should increase defence spending, while a minority (37%) say spending should remain at about the same level as now. Majority support for acquiring nuclear-powered submarines under AUKUS has held firm (67%)," a Lowy Institute poll on national security issue found last month.
Sharing MHI's IP with Australia and other measures "goes to show how serious Japan are and how this is a whole of defense (industry & government) effort from Japan," Peter Dean at the US Studies Center said. "They are seeing this as a long-term strategic partnership not just a short-term commercial sale, and that is the best way for them to position themselves to be as competitive as they can be."
“We the Japanese government will guarantee that the whole project, and all the contracts will go smoothly so that there will not be any delay to the project,” Osamu Nishiwaki, a top official at Japan's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA), told reporters.
One area where China has "moved breathtakingly fast is the fielding of a suite of counter space weapons," Gen. Stephen Whiting told Breaking Defense in his only press interview on a trip through Australia.