INSIGHT: Chief of Air Force on shaping the RAAF to meet an evolving strategic environment

Joint-capabilities
|
By:
Mel Hupfeld

At the start of July, the federal government announced a $270 billion commitment to defence spending for the coming decade, and a new holistic strategy for dealing with an increasingly uncertain world in the Indo-Pacific.

At the start of July, the federal government announced a $270 billion commitment to defence spending for the coming decade, and a new holistic strategy for dealing with an increasingly uncertain world in the Indo-Pacific.

 
 

In this exclusive interview, the Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, AO, DSC, gives host Phil Tarrant the inside story on how his team is rethinking what a modern air force should look like – and how it can better collaborate with other elements of the ADF and government to drive change.

AIRMSHL Hupfeld lifts the lid on working with artificial intelligence on the Loyal Wingman platform, “robust” conversations with his counterparts in the Navy and Army on an integrated military, the drive towards a fifth-gen fighting force and how the lesson from COVID-19 must be to shore up global supply chains.

He also talks candidly about his love of flying, his journey into the top job in the RAAF, and how he can’t wait to get out in his Airtourer and P-51 Mustang in the near future.

Enjoy the podcast,

The Defence Connect team

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Listen to previous episodes of the Defence Connect podcast:

Episode 11: SPOTLIGHT: Subs may be the centrepiece – but infrastructure, workforce and sovereign capability will decide the outcome, with Stantec Australia’ Chris Waywell, Rob Sansbury and Robert Fogel
Episode 10: CONTESTED GROUND: Apathy, complacency and the ‘Lucky Country’, Australia’s predicament is entirely self-inflicted, with Ben Dullroy
Episode 9: SPECIAL EDITION PODCAST: 125 years of the Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army
Episode 8: CONTESTED GROUND: Australian resilience during a crisis and sovereign industrial capability
Episode 7: CONTESTED GROUND: From Tehran to Sydney – why war could reshape Australian property
Episode 6: SPOTLIGHT: Inside Australia’s AUKUS industrial transformation, with Honeywell Aerospace Australia senior director Lee Davis
Episode 5: CONTESTED GROUND: War without borders – the disinformation threat arriving in Australia
Episode 4: THE PROGRESS REPORT: The mission to make military children visible
Episode 3: PODCAST: Righting the ship, balancing the force, with Senator James Paterson, shadow minister for defence
Episode 2: SPOTLIGHT: Modern electronic warfare, spectrum congestion and the Australian defence ecosystem, with DEWC Services’ Rian Whitby