Australia-US Defence Industry Dialogue
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W H E R E | E M B A S S Y O F A U S T R A L I A
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Welcome Reception | 5:00 – 7:00pm
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Dialogue | 8:30 am – 1:00 pm
Networking Lunch | 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
The annual Australia-US Defence Industry Dialogue returns to Washington D.C. October 14-15, 2026.
The event will be held in the margins of AUSA 2026, as the next iteration of the long-running defence industry partnership between Team Defence Australia and the American Australian Association. For 2026, the event broadens beyond AUKUS to showcase the full depth of the Australia–United States defence industrial relationship: land systems, Army capability, AI, hypersonics, capital, rapid commercialization, and Australian companies entering the U.S. market.
The program will feature keynote addresses by senior US and Australian government officials, expert panel discussions, a networking lunch, and a welcome reception all hosted at the Embassy of Australia. The event attracts attendees from defence industry and Fortune 500 companies, policy makers, academics, investors, economists and national security experts.
Any questions, please contact Erin Gray: [email protected]
PANEL TOPICS
PANEL ONE
Partners in Deterrence
Discussion on collective defence and a strategy of deterrence by denial designed to sustain a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.
PANEL TWO
AUKUS: Strategy to Delivery – What Comes Next?
A focused update on AUKUS implementation, industry opportunities and what Australian companies need to know as the partnership moves from strategy to delivery.
PANEL THREE
Capital for Capability
How defence companies access the capital they need to scale — from venture capital and private equity to government-backed instruments and strategic corporate investment.
PANEL FOUR
Speed to Battlefield
How new defence companies are moving faster from prototype to procurement, and what Australia can learn from the changing American defence innovation ecosystem.
PANEL FIVE
Winning in America
Case studies of defence companies entering the US market, finding customers, raising capital and building the partnerships needed to succeed.