SPOTLIGHT: Modern electronic warfare, spectrum congestion and the Australian defence ecosystem, with DEWC Services’ Rian Whitby

Joint-capabilities
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By: DEWC Services

In this episode of the Defence Connect Spotlight podcast, senior journalist Robert Dougherty is joined by Rian Whitby, deputy chief operating officer at DEWC Services and former naval officer aerospace engineer.

In this episode of the Defence Connect Spotlight podcast, senior journalist Robert Dougherty is joined by Rian Whitby, deputy chief operating officer at DEWC Services and former naval officer aerospace engineer.

The pair discuss the Australian defence ecosystem and electronic warfare in the lead-up to Whitby’s appearance at the Electronic Warfare Australia-New Zealand 2026 conference.

As part of this in-depth conversation, the pair discuss a range of subjects, including the following:

  • The Australian defence ecosystem as well as small-to-medium enterprises and international primes supply chains.
  • Support for the Royal Australian Navy and the evolving regional threat environment in the Indo-Pacific.
  • Spectrum congestion and increasingly sophisticated electronic attack capabilities in modern warfare.
  • The Royal Australian Navy’s new platforms, such as future Mogami Class frigates, uncrewed underwater vessels and uncrewed surface vessels.
  • Integration of embedded electronic warfare upgrades into legacy naval platforms.
  • Electromagnetic warfare challenges, capability gaps and Australia’s evolving sovereign electronic warfare capability.

Enjoy the podcast,
The Defence Connect Spotlight team

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Listen to previous episodes of the Defence Connect podcast:

Episode 11: CONTESTED GROUND: Weak, vulnerable, backwater – Australia’s choice between strategic camps and managed decline
Episode 10: PODCAST: Undersea dominance – Australia charts the maritime future through autonomous systems and AUKUS innovation
Episode 9: PODCAST: Australian Army Cadets pathways, submarine industry growth and Australia’s fuel security
Episode 8: CONTESTED GROUND: The blind faith factor – why Australians trust an ADF they don’t understand
Episode 7: PODCAST: Defence preparedness, artificial intelligence productivity, and Australian industrial resilience
Episode 6: CONTESTED GROUND: Shots fired! Chinese missile test shatters Australia’s ‘fog of peace’, with Mike Pezzullo
Episode 5: SPOTLIGHT: Counter-drone innovation, directed energy and delivering operational outcomes, with EOS Defence Systems’ Lee Kormany
Episode 4: PODCAST: Strengthening security ties, Fiji defence pact and Australia’s counter-drone push
Episode 3: CONTESTED GROUND: Lessons from the UK in political polarisation, generational dislocation and intergenerational warfare, with Ben Dullroy, Bravo Delta Advisory
Episode 2: PODCAST: Defence Industry Development Strategy, Defence reform and Australians fighting in Ukraine

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