Episode 144

Chaos continues in the Middle East with the status of peace talks between the US and Iran fluctuating wildly in response to continuing threats from President Donald Trump. The critical Strait of Hormuz seemingly remains both open and closed. The deal that the US appears to have agreed to allows Iran to retain its enriched Uranium, receive massive reparations payments and continue its ballistic missile program. Since none of the originally stated war aims have been met, will the Australian government call on the US to resume bombing since it was such a strong supporter of the war in the first place?

There is some good news - Australia is donating $100 million to the fund that allows Ukraine to purchase more weapons. That conflict appears to be reaching a decisive stage with Ukraine now able to conduct drone strikes deep inside Russia even hitting a huge refinery on the outskirts of Moscow, probably the most heavily defended city on earth. One of the drones appears to be a larger version of one called the Aerosonde, which Australia had developed more than 25 years ago. Yes, we could have been a world leader in the use of small, swarming long range autonomous drones - but of course that was ignored by Defence who could not see the benefits of the technology.

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