Systems, Strategy, Sovereignty: The Real Business of Indo Pacific

For executives and officers managing billion-dollar portfolios in shipbuilding, sustainment and advanced systems, Indo Pacific is as much about the calibration of strategy as it is about the exhibition.

During Indo Pacific 2025, 4 to 6 November at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney, the intersection of naval power, industry and sovereign capability will be tested against the shifting geostrategic realities of the Indo Pacific.

The AUKUS technology pathways, South China Sea flashpoints and the Australia Defence Strategic Review form the contextual backdrop.

The International Maritime Conference (IMC) has become the intellectual spine of Indo Pacific. Attendees can expect to see research and presentations covering:

• Subsurface Dominance: Advances in submarine quietening, battery density for extended undersea endurance, and the cascading impact of AUKUS-aligned technologies.

• Autonomous Integration: How AI-enabled unmanned surface and sub-surface vessels will be woven into fleet command structures.

• Sustainment Under Constraint: Analysis of sovereign sustainment strategies in an era of contested global supply chains.

• Cyber in the Maritime Environment: Shifts from traditional IT defence to operational technology hardening - where the compromise of propulsion or navigation is as strategic as kinetic attack.

Delegates can expect to leave with clearer signals on where Australian and allied navies are prioritising investment across surface, subsurface and autonomous domains. It is also an opportunity to gather intelligence on how competitors are structuring partnerships, especially in the SME–prime integration space.

And as always, it provides an early look at disruptive naval technologies that may re-shape procurement frameworks before the next decade.