Posted by Brian Hartigan, Author at CONTACT magazine

Artist rendering of SSN-AUKUS via BAE Systems. UK MoD, Crown copyright.

Arms-trade regulations to be relaxed for AUKUS

07/05/202407/05/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1450 Views 0 Comments AUKUS

Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have released proposed changes to national exemptions to remove export controls between

Australian Defence Force special operations force trainees from the ADF School of Special Operations conduct a parachute load-follow jump from a Royal Australian Air Force C-130J Hercules into water off Manly, Sydney, NSW. Photo by Able Seaman Benjamin Ricketts.

Australian Army News

Army parachute training resumes after fatal accident

07/05/202421/05/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2198 Views 0 Comments

Army parachute training has been authorised to recommence after being paused in March following a fatal accident at RAAF Base

A scientist from La Trobe University checks the readout from a MantisX system attached to a shooter's weapon. Photo by Corporal Michael Rogers.

Australian Army News Science & Technology

‘Fitbit for weapons’ under trial at Enoggera

07/05/202407/05/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1833 Views 0 Comments

A trial is underway to test if dry firing with a ‘Fitbit for shooting’ can improve soldiers’ live-fire skills. CAPTION:

HMAS Hobart’s embarked MH-60R helicopter “Voodoo” returns to the ship during flying operations on her current deployment. Photo by Leading Seaman Matthew Lyall.

China News Royal Australian Navy

Aussie helicopter ‘warned off’ by Chinese fighter

06/05/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1925 Views 0 Comments Operation Argos

The Australian government says it has expressed its concerns to the Chinese government following what they say was an unsafe

Editor's Vlog

New assembly table from chunky pallets

02/05/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 629 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

I only went to the mall for a cup of coffee – but came away with two of the chunkiest

Chief of the German Army Lieutenant General Alfons Mais and Head of Equipment Department Ministry of Defence, Vice Admiral Carsten Stawitzki prepare to take a test drive of a Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicle at Rheinmetall Defense Australia, Brisbane, Queensland. Photo by Marc Dorow.

Australian Europe News Sovereign industry

Australian govt orders Boxers for German Army

02/05/202419/05/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1777 Views 1 Comment

Australia is set to make its largest ever defence export after the Australian government signed a production contract with Rheinmetall

Editor's Vlog

Challenging tiling job FINALLY finished

30/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1069 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

HURRAY!!! The tiling is finally finished in Ashling’s new bathroom. It took longer than I thought it would, was harder

Europe New Zealand News Veterans

Kiwis avoid ‘no-show’ at Gallipoli 2024

28/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2214 Views 0 Comments Gallipoli

The Anzac spirit of cooperation and camaraderie was tapped into at Gallipoli this year to allow the New Zealand Defence

USS Fort McHenry at Naval Station Mayport. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Adam Henderson.

Letters to the Editor

Is USS Fort McHenry in Cairns?

23/04/2024 John Levitz 1848 Views 0 Comments USS Fort McHenry

Just a question, Why has the US vessel, Fort McHenry LCU 2020 not left Cairns Naval Base since the end

Australian News Sovereign industry

Australia’s Whiskey Project delivers two watercraft to US Marine Corps

21/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2229 Views 0 Comments The Whiskey Project Group, TWPG

Australian specialist and tactical watercraft manufacturer The Whiskey Project Group (TWPG) has successfully delivered the first two 11-metre Whiskey Bravo

A keen-eyed pup participates in a working-dog seminar with the NZDF, other NZ-government dog agencies and overseas militaries.

New Zealand News

NZ working-dog seminar a howling success

21/04/202421/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1832 Views 0 Comments Military Working Dogs

A seminar on training working dogs wrapped up at Trentham recently after hosting around 170 dog handlers from government and

Editor's Vlog

Bathroom tiling – on the home straight

20/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1379 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

Tiling isn’t easy – especially with big tiles – I now have learnt. Despite this, I’m nearing the end of

Ghost Shark ‘Alpha’ – the first prototype co-developed by Defence Science and Technology Group, the Royal Australian Navy and Anduril Australia unveiled at Garden Island, Sydney. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite.

News Royal Australian Navy Science & Technology Sovereign industry

Ghost Shark ‘Alpha’ unveiled in Sydney

19/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3192 Views 3 Comments Ghost Shark

The Albanese Government [not the company who made it, apparently] will deliver a sovereign, autonomous undersea capability, through the Ghost

News Veterans

Veteran groups team up for special amphibious operation

18/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2463 Views 0 Comments Operation Jaywick, Saltwater Veterans, Veterans Instameet, Z Special Unit

By Don Stevenson CONTACT Fitness Columnist (retd) It’s been a while since I wrote anything for CONTACT, but a few

The EOS R600 Remote Weapon Station featuring 30mm cannon, coaxial machine gun and four Javelin missiles. Photo supplied.

Australian Sovereign industry USA

EOS showcases advanced unmanned weapons platform to US Army

16/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2378 Views 1 Comment EOS

Australian’s EOS subsidiary EOS Defense Systems USA recently participated in the US Army’s Project Convergence Capstone 4 (PC-C4) at the

Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel conduct an urban assault, as part of the Platoon and Company Sergeants Battle Course run by Australian Army soldiers deployed on Operation Kudu in the United Kingdom, March 2024. Image has been digitally altered for security purposes.

Thought provoking

Offer of soup for Ukrainian trainees

15/04/2024 Gregory Jarosch 1347 Views 0 Comments Operation Kudu

Dear Folks. Does anyone have contacts in or with the Operation Kudu folk in the UK (see below reference) or

Michael ‘Bronco’ Lane (left) and his pal, John “Brummie” Stokes. Photo supplied to HIMALMAN’S WEBLOG by John “Brummie” Stokes.

Lest We Forget Videos

VALE Major Michael ‘Bronco’ Lane (ret’d), ex 22nd SAS, Hereford, UK

15/04/202427/04/2024 Peter Allen 3192 Views 0 Comments Michael 'Bronco' Lane

A life of service and unassuming self belief well lived, vale Major Michael ‘Bronco’ Lane, BEM, MM *2 FILE PHOTO:

Vietnam. 1966-11-28. Private Ken Wallace of Mitchelton, Brisbane, Qld, keeps a sharp watch as his mates in the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), advance along a jungle track during Operation Ingham. Australian War Memorial file number CUN/66/0932/VN

Poets Corner

NEVER IN THE FIGHT

13/04/202413/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 5535 Views 0 Comments By Tomas 'Paddy' Hamilton

YOU MAY OFTEN FOOL YOURSELF AND THINK EVERYTHING IS FINE THEN IT SLOWLY DAWNS ON YOU SOMEONE HAS CROSSED THE

Editor's Vlog

Bathroom tiling – my way – part 2

10/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 965 Views 0 Comments

Back from my South Pacific cruise – and with the latest batch of floor screed well set – it’s time

Australian Army soldiers from the 1st Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, fire an M777 howitzer during a live-fire exercise at Shoalwater Bay Training Area. Photo by Private Andrew Shaw.

Australian Army News

1st Regiment prep for combined arms exercise

09/04/2024 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1615 Views 1 Comment

Soldiers from 1st Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, conducted live-fire training recently to enhance their readiness for their combined-arms training activity