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Opinion: Media Watch’s attack on Major General (Ret’d) Mick Ryan is both unfair and misleading, argues Beaten Zone GM Peta Ellis, stating that his advocacy for drone technology is rooted in a deep commitment to national security and innovation – not personal gain.
Media Watch recently took aim at retired 35-year Australian Army veteran Major General Mick Ryan, calling him “Australian media’s drone evangeliser-in-chief”. The program suggested his advocacy for drone technology was commercially motivated by his support for drone start-up Skydio.
This is an unfair and dangerous claim.
MAJGEN Ryan has long been a tireless advocate for Australia’s security and prosperity. He’s supporting Skydio because he believes Australia desperately needs to innovate its approach to defence technology.
Given the current state of the world, with conflict escalating daily in multiple regions, it’s clearly vital for Australia and other nations to ensure they can defend their borders and protect their citizens and defence personnel with the latest and best military technology and methods.
Skydio and other drones are not only used for military purposes. They enable many kinds of dangerous work to be carried out more safely, such as providing first response teams with immediate situational awareness. On the battlefield they can gather information far more quickly than “boots on the ground” – lowering unnecessary risk and keeping Australian service personnel out of danger.
MAJGEN Ryan isn’t some war profiteer. He’s one of the most respected strategic minds in the country. His work is focused on helping people understand the complexity of modern warfare so they can make better decisions. He gives his time to educate and support those trying to navigate some of the hardest defence and security challenges in the world, often for little in return.
This baseless attack by Media Watch is symptomatic of misguided anti-defence sentiment across Australia, from media to government, that we need to address to ensure our country’s long-term security – and to avoid our children of one day having to go to war with a massive technology disadvantage.
The Media Watch episode shows exactly why we have a problem in Australia. We keep looking at defence through an old lens. We miss what’s happening right now, what other nations are doing and how far behind we actually are. This is what MAJGEN Ryan is trying to highlight in all his work.
And when the media gets it wrong, it just proves we’re not even in the same race. Unfortunately, the public listens to this and believes it.
This sentiment is also shaping government policy when it comes to defence, something we can’t afford in today’s geopolitical environment. Instead of criticising the use of drones, maybe we should be asking how an under-resourced country like Ukraine is managing to hold ground using whatever tools they have. Outnumbered, outgunned and under constant threat, Ukraine is using drones to outmanoeuvre a superpower. That’s innovation in real time.
That’s what this space is actually about, doing more with less, adapting fast, protecting lives. Not outdated ideas of war, not tanks and trenches, and definitely not sending young soldiers off to something we’re not prepared for.
The truth is that Australia does not have the luxury of dismissing new technologies because they make us uncomfortable or because they don’t fit our romantic notions of warfare. Drones, AI and cyber are not future threats but present realities.
If we keep vilifying those who speak hard truths about our vulnerabilities, we risk leaving the next generation to face a fight we were too proud, too slow or too cynical to prepare for.
Peta Ellis is general manager of Beaten Zone Venture Partners, a specialist defence technology venture capital firm.
