Book clubs aren’t typically my thing. Like many tech CEOs, my calendar is a blur of calls across multiple time zones. But when David Tudehope from Macquarie Technology Group handed me a hardcopy of Freedom’s Forge and insisted I read it, I couldn’t say no. Arthur Herman’s telling of how US industry stepped up in World War II, building the arsenal of democracy almost from scratch, offers powerful lessons for today.

It’s a reminder that government and industry, when aligned by a common mission, can move mountains. It also shows what can be achieved when governments invest early in readiness, laying industrial foundations well before a crisis escalates into open conflict.

Australia finds itself at a similarly pivotal moment. With rising global instability, we are facing the most challenging strategic environment in a generation. We urgently need to build up our sovereign industrial base, not just to keep pace with threats, but to shape the kind of national resilience that underwrites long-term security.

The pieces are in place. Australia has a world-class innovation sector, skilled engineering talent and a generation of tech professionals increasingly motivated by mission. But structural barriers risk preventing this potential from turning into capability.

Defence and industry often operate on different wavelengths. The government is rightly focused on certainty and risk mitigation. Meanwhile, industry thrives on solving ambiguous problems. Procurement systems are often too slow, complex and opaque to accommodate emerging tech or the smaller firms. That disconnect discourages the very innovation Defence needs.

Another challenge is the lack of practical long-term demand visibility. Strategy documents lay out broad ambitions, but don’t always provide the specificity that companies need to invest with confidence. Without clear, commercially viable pathways, the risk becomes too great—especially for small and medium enterprises and venture-backed firms.

But there’s a silver lining. Today’s strategic climate has created a level of urgency and alignment that’s rare. Where defence was once a hard sell to engineers and entrepreneurs, the rise of peer threats from state actors has changed the calculus. The best talent increasingly wants to contribute to meaningful national outcomes.

DroneShield has seen how fast innovation can happen when real-world operational feedback drives the process. Our equipment is deployed in Ukraine and other active environments. Lessons from the field come back directly into our product development cycle. That kind of rapid iteration—design, deploy, learn, adapt—is what gives modern defence technology its edge. But it can only be harnessed if procurement frameworks work.

To accelerate progress, we need more early-stage collaboration between Defence and industry. Capability trial days and challenge-based events allow ideas to surface and partnerships to form before the commercial machinery kicks in. Models such as Australia’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator or the United States’ Defense Innovation Unit are proving the value of this approach.

We must also fix structural friction: speed up security clearances, streamline Defence Industry Security Program upgrades, and simplify procurement. Too many promising companies fall into the ‘valley of death’ between concept and contract. Without targeted scale-up funding, many look offshore to grow.

That’s why Australia needs a sovereign co-investment model. Defence doesn’t need to replace private capital, but it should walk beside it. We must support companies that can scale globally while keeping jobs, intellectual property and manufacturing capacity at home.

In Freedom’s Forge, US industrialists didn’t just make machines; they made victory possible. That wasn’t accidental. It was the result of bold government vision and enablement, private sector ingenuity, and shared purpose. If we can recreate even a fraction of that model, Australia will not only strengthen its sovereign capability but also help secure the future of our great nation.