Officers from the Royal Australian Air Force fly their racing UAVs during Air Force Drone Racing Association expo day at Canberra in June. The Australian Defence Force is increasingly engaging in drone racing to enhance their understanding of new UAV technologies, and support associated research and development. (Commonwealth of Australia)

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is increasingly engaging in “drone racing” events to enhance their understanding of new technologies related to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and support associated research and development (R&D).

In an interview with
Janes
in late November, Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF’s) Wing Commander Keirin Joyce said a major outcome of increasing involvement in drone racing for the ADF has been “informal modernisation”.

All three services under the ADF have established drone racing teams. Their involvement in drone racing events supports informal modernisation in three ways.

First, drone racing events provide “good market intelligence” to the ADF about available component technologies and how these can influence the design of UAVs, Wg Cdr Joyce said.