From Drone Racing to Military Operations

Did you hear a *THUD* when this episode arrived in your player? Weighing in at two hours and fourty one minutes, this episode is packed with content recorded at the Military International Drone Racing Tournament in Sydney back in March 2026, along with a great chat with WGCDR Keirin Joyce, one of the people organising the event. Unless you're going on a long journey, we suspect you'll need your pause button a few times on this episode, but it's worth listening all the way through to the end, and not just because the Australian Defence Force Drone Racing Team are the reigning champions following back-to-back victories in the Australian and Sydney events this year.

The enormous stack of interviews in this episode unfold as:

0:00:50 – We kick it off with an overview of what this episode is about.

0:02:53 – Our discussion starts with WGCDR Keirin Joyce of the RAAF talking about the growth of military drone racing, Australia’s winning record, international competition, technology development and lessons from Ukraine.

0:16:11 – CAPT Tom Gash discusses the Richmond tactical events including payload delivery, aerial interception, scoring, equipment and safety.

0:24:14 – FSGT Justin Galbraith talks about the autonomous fixed-wing targets being used at the tactical events, covering interception tactics and the importance of the drone team’s spotter.

0:28:18 – Sid from CubePilot talks about their Cube Orange+ product, using the ArduPilot system, and autonomous target aircraft operations.

0:32:43 – LTCOL Raymond Brin, CO of the 9th Regiment Royal Army Artillery, talks about the use of UAS in Army UAS for ISR, along with operational drone capability and careers.

0:39:38 – We present a promotion for our latest podcast production: A History of the Future, then tell you a little about it.

0:40:34 – WGCDR Joyce returns to talk about the different groups involved in Military Drone Racing, including cadets and veterans, along with international teams, and the Defence and Industry careers that many young FPV pilots progress towards.

0:45:18 – We then move on to discussing the ADF’s top-down innovation units and disruptive experimentation to assess the application of new innovative concepts to Defence.

0:47:40 – This includes the use of an autonomous Jabiru light sport aircraft under Project Camel Train, and the Aladdin capability which is providing a precision logistics delivery system via drones.

0:52:25 – Payu and Angus are from the Australian Cadet Drone Racing Team and they talk about the importance of STEM, being in cadets, the fun and development they’re experiencing with drone racing, and their potential Defence pathways ahead of them.

0:58:59 – PTE Hamish Glover returns to the show to talk about the Army Drone Racing Team and the experiences he’s had racing, older versus newer technology, and tactical challenges.

1:06:56 – LAC Nelson White from the Air Force Drone Racing Team talks about being at the MIDRT competition, international camaraderie, and conducting tactical intercepts.

1:12:19 – Ben Boller is a member of the Veterans Drone Racing Team who talks about the Australian veteran community, his experiences racing and how it contributes to mental wellbeing, along with his experiences flying the tactical events.

1:21:04 – Rodney from Team USA provides an overview of building the US military drone racing presence, its links to the AUKUS program, the importance of STEM, and conducting the tactical events.

1:25:23 – Grant talks with Air Commodore Migdiawan from the Indonesian military about the growth of Indonesian military drone racing and its contribution to international cooperation.

1:27:51 – Marlon from the Philippine Army Drone Racing Team talks about developing the Philippine team, their experiences in international competition, and the tactical skills they are developing.

1:30:26 – MWO Blake Bergeron talks about the rapid formation of the Canadian military team, learning their new drones, and building Canadian FPV capability.

1:36:52 – WGCDR Joyce returns to talk about the military drone racing teams being integrated with civilian drone racing groups, sponsorship and support from civilian organisations, and the importance of drones to many areas of civilian life.

1:46:32 – Aaron Bell is the General Manager of KJR and also one of the members of the ADF’s UAS Events team. He steps us through KRJ’s history and services, discusses AI-enabled remote drone operations, environmental applications and the efforts that have gone into organising the tournament.

1:52:23 – Michael Oborne from CubePilot tells us about programming the autonomous target missions using Mission Planner, ArduPilot and civilian survey applications.

1:57:14 – Charles at SYPAQ tells us about the company’s sponsorship of the event, STEM engagement, veterans and autonomous systems.

1:59:36 – Tim Croft, aka Timmytron, from FPVBits steps us through their live-streaming of drone racing, how race timing works, providing FPV feeds and broadcasting events.

2:06:59 – Philip Rouse, co-CEO of CubePilot, steps us through CubePilot’s history, the development of ArduPilot and autonomous systems, including defence applications and supply-chain issues.

2:21:49 – WGCDR Joyce returns to discuss the Australian uncrewed systems sector and future growth for the tournament.

2:23:42 – We start wrapping the episode, including a discussion of Steve’s new Tesla (yes, he’s gone electric).

2:27:21 – We’ve got listener mail including feedback on our E190-E2 episode (we got something wrong – DOH!), a shout-out to Nilma at Embraer, and feedback from some listeners, and Steve’s tribute to his flying instructor and aviation mentor Gary Biddle. We also ask our audience’s help to spread the word that PCDU is back as we’ve encountered people who didn’t realise we were producing episodes once again. We also talk about upcoming events where we can be found, including Grant’s work for ADM and Steve’s news bulletins being produced for AIR News.

Links:

• Military International Drone Racing Tournament = midrt.org
• Australian Defence Force Drone Racing Team
• CubePilot = www.defence.gov.au/news-events/news/2026-07-01/drone-racers-league-their-own
• Cube Pilot's Cube Orange+ product = www.cubepilot.org/#/cube/features
• ArduPilot = ardupilot.org
• A History of the Future = ahistoryofthefuture.com.au
• Project Camel Train = www.australianflying.com.au/latest/raaf-converts-jabiru-400-into-autonomous-logistics-drone
• Aladdin capability = www.defence.gov.au/news-events/news/2026-07-09/drone-launch-marks-innovation-milestone
• FPVBits = www.youtube.com/@FPVBits/videos
• Australian Defence Magazine = www.australiandefence.com.au
• AIR News = airnews.com.au/stream.html

Credits:

• Introduction voice over and closing credits by Terry Daniel
• Artwork using photos by Grant...