Defence has staged the first Innovation and Asymmetry Wargame to explore how emerging technologies might shape future military operations.

Led by Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), the hybrid wargaming activity brought together more than 200 attendees at DSTG Edinburgh in South Australia.

DSTG drew on expertise from the Joint Experimentation Directorate to assist in designing and delivering the event with custom wargaming tools.

Participants from across Defence and international partners were immersed in a realistic scenario set in 2035. They were able to employ a wide range of innovation, science and technology (IS&T) interventions, combining novel concepts and potentially asymmetric capabilities.

The Joint Operational Understanding and Scrutiny Tool was used to record the wargame and allow participants to step forward and back between turns to explore alternative outcomes.

Data and insights gathered during the activity will be used to reduce risk and inform decision-making across the Defence IS&T ecosystem.

“The operational-level wargame allowed participants to leverage the power of experimentation to explore future capabilities and their potential to deliver an asymmetric advantage for Australia,” said Chief Defence Scientist Professor Tanya Monro.

“This is the capstone event in DSTG’s campaign of experimentation that provides the foundation of our effort to accelerate the most promising technologies into capabilities, giving the Australian Defence Force an edge.”

The focus of the first Innovation and Asymmetry Wargame was to create an environment for Defence to experiment with IS&T options that could mitigate the most significant strategic challenges and deliver asymmetric advantage.

The wargame was an excellent example of experimentation in action – one of the key lines of effort in the 2024 Defence IS&T Strategy and a theme for this year’s Australian Defence, Science, Technology and Research (ADSTAR) Summit. 

The wargame was also a valuable opportunity for trusted partners from the wider IS&T community to learn more about Defence’s priorities, with the aim of inspiring further innovation through this deeper understanding.

Attendees from industry, universities and national security agencies were invited to see firsthand how Defence generated data through experimentation.

This evidence forms the basis of real-world decisions about everything from military tactics to prioritisation and investment.

There will be a presentation on the Innovation and Asymmetry Wargame as part of the Experimentation Line of Effort at ADSTAR 2026. This will cover the processes and methodologies employed during the wargame campaign and highlight how experimentation served as a strategic enabler linking science, operations and SMEs. It will also demonstrate how a structured experimentation approach can de-risk innovation, generate evidence-based insights, and inform future capability development and operational concepts.

ADSTAR 2026 will be held from August 4 to 6 in Adelaide, featuring international speakers. 

View the program and register here: Home | ADSTAR Summit