Multi-hull Crewed Control Carrier as the Flagship of the Australian Drone Fleet

This is to propose Australia build a fleet of uncrewed drone warships and crewed control ships to one common design. These would be stealthy, to avoid detection by radar. They would be about the size of an offshore patrol vessel, but multi-hull, using the expertise of Austal and Incat in building high speed ferries and warships. In peacetime the lightly armed control ships would perform constabulary duties in the region, without appearing threatening to Australia's neighbors. In wartime, with the drones, they would have the firepower of the largest warships.

The proposed Crewed Control Carrier (CCC) would be much smaller than the UK's Common Combat Vessel (CCV). This is because the CCC, focused on stealth, would not carry any offensive weapons, the launching of which could give away its position. In contrast the drone ships would be larger than most proposals from the UK & USA, as they need to be able to operate un-refueled across the expanses of the Pacific and Indian oceans. While having only defensive armament, the CCC could still be used alone for constabulary duties. The ship's auto-cannons, & short range missiles, would be sufficient to deal with pirates.

As an example, a starting point would be Austal's MRV-80 Multi-Role Vessel. This is to the same trimaran layout as the Independence class littoral combat ships built for the US Navy, but smaller at only 80m. The sides of the ship would be canted inwards, in the style of the experimental Sea Shadow (IX-529), to reduce the radar signature. Retractable panels would cover the helicopter deck, forming a hangar, and reducing the radar cross section. 

The vessels would be made in three versions:

Crewed Control Carrier,
generated with Google AI.
Tom Worthington 2026

1. Crewed Control Carrier: The control ship would have accommodation for up to 50 crew, with a control center for the operation of drone ships, submersibles and aircraft. The flight deck could be used for launching drones, with the provision to carry one crewed helicopter. Small surface drones and submersibles would be launched using the same stern ramp as for rigid inflatable boats. The ships would have short range radar, auto-cannons & missiles for self defence. 

2. Drone Missile Ship: The drone ship would retain the bridge of the command ship, for optional crewed use, but replace the accommodation with additional fuel and missiles. In addition to vertical launch cells, the ship could carry containerized missiles on the flight deck. Unlike other drone missile ship designs, the containers would be covered, when not launching, to reduce the radar cross section.

3. Sensor Ship: The sensor ship would have electronically steerable flat panel radar arrays built into the sloped surfaces for detecting aircraft, ballistic missiles and satellites. In a addition, a long range surface radar would be mounted on a telescopic mast. Like the missile ship, there would be a minimal bridge provided, but the ship would normally be operated remotely, as when actively scanning it would be a very visible target. The missile and control ships could also have receive only antennas to work in concert with the sensor ship.

Dawn of the McManor House

According to an SBS News report, under the Australian Government's planned tax changes, knocking down a house and putting up a duplex, or a block of flats gets you a 50% capital gains tax (CGT) discount. But will converting a McMansion into a duplex, or manor house, count as a "new build"? This would require an extensive rebuild. to convert one home into two three, or four, so I suggest should be allowed.

This could be a way to rapidly, cheaply & environmentally, increase the housing stock. It could include converting useless space in existing homes (studies, media rooms & garages full of junk), into useful living space. Built in garages could be replaced with carports having a roof made of solar panels, with space for batteries, car chargers & storage hot water systems.

We might see companies specialize in this form of home conversion. Most Australian households are 1 or 2 people. Rebuilding our hosing stock could provide homes better suited to this & eliminate the housing shortage.

A McManor house could be useful for a family as it grows and shrinks. However, this might need further tax reform. For example, reducing the current tax exemption on the family home, to an exemption on the average priced family home. There is no reason why someone with a $10M home should be able to sell it tax free. The median Australian home value is about $1M, with Sydney nearer $2M. So a limit on tax concessions could be set at $2M nation wide, or regionally at $1M to $2M.

The Audiobook’s Evolution from the Analog Era to AI

Greetings from "The Audiobook’s Evolution from the Analog Era to AI" by Matthew Rubery, from Queen Mary University of London. We are at the the National Library of Australia in Canberra, sponsored by the Australian National University. He started with the origins of recorded audio, pointing out the first recording was a nursery rhyme: Mary had a little lamb. He then moved onto how audiobooks were first for the blind, then a general readership. He ended with an AI version of Melania Trump reading her autobiography.

Switched off Google Gemini in Android Auto

Some weeks ago my car's Android Auto system upgraded itself from Google Assistant to Google Gemini. This has been mildly annoying, until I needed urgent medical care. 

I didn't mind too much, that when I asked to be navigated somewhere Gemini would give me a tediously detailed description of the building, before asking if I wanted directions there. However, this week I was on the highway and needed urgent, but not life threatening, medical attention.  So I asked Gemini the waiting time at the nearest Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, run by the ACT Government.. I was impressed when Gemini immediately responded that there was no waiting time and no patients in the queue. So I headed there, only to find a queue of 8 and a 45 minute wait. It actually took 2 hours to be seen, but then I received excellent care and am fine. 

Had Gemini given correct information, I could have chosen a different medical service. Had my condition proved more serious, the outcome could have been much worse (last time I left the same clinic in an ambulance).

I have switched off Google Gemini in Android Auto. 

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Greetings from the Kuranda Scenic Railway, near Cairns in Queensland. Originally built for mining, it passes waterfalls and views down the mountains to the coast. These two photos were taken from the train at the same location, on from the left window, the other the right.

Tilt Train into Tropic Thunder

Roma Street railway station Brisbane 

Greetings from the Spirit of Queensland train, at Mackay, Queensland. We left Brisbane yesterday afternoon and traveled through the night, past flooded fields. There is Tropical Low 30U in our path ahead and it is unlikely we will reach our destination of Cairns (lows do not get the romantic names of cyclones). This tilt train is comfortable and well equipped. 

First class seat 

I am in first class, with lie flat beds. There is a large video screen for each seat, but with a very limited selection of video & audio entertainment. The seats are comfortable with power adjustment. However, to convert to a bed the staff have to plug in an extra hand controller and manually unfold part of the chair. 

There is one USB & one mains power socket for each seat and a place for a bottle of water (with a complementary bottle in it). There is a pillow, doona, blanket and towel in an overhead locker. There is a toilet and a toilet shower at the end of the carriage (a very large shower by railway standards). The food is good (and included in the ticket price). There is a cafe car in the middle of the train.

While a tilt train, it is not particularly fast, due to the narrow winding track. But the ride is comfortable. We have had to divert around Gladstone due to flooding and there is water lying in the cane fields around Mackay, but the train is only one hour behind schedule. 

The train has no WFi but Telstra's mobile coverage works most of the way. Queensland's tilt trains (there is an electric one to Rockhampton, as well as this diesel service to Cairns) have been remarkably uncontroversial. While other attempts to provide higher speed trains have faltered, the electric tilt train has been running for 28 years. 

Postscript: Train arrived in Cairns only two hours late, with the bonus of another dinner onboard.

Australian Internet Domain Names Licensing Review

Greetings from the .au Licensing Rules Review consultation in Canberra. auDA is a not for profit organization with a legislated license to administer Internet domain names which end in .au 

auDA will be holding face to face consultations in Brisbane, Sydney & Melbourne, with online consultations as well. auDA is keen to get input. I offered to help by coming up with controversial proposals, such as dutch auctions for domain names: you want the name, you bid the most first, you get it. ;-)

I am here because one of the auDA board suggest I come along. I was a member of the "Internet Cabal" some decades ago, but have not had much to do with it since, apart from paying my domain registration.

There is no proposal for changes, but key issues the panel has identified in the discussion paper are:

1. Domain name monetisation
2. Allocation rules for com.au and net.au
3. Contested .au direct domain names
4. Bad faith and scam registrations
5. Complaint processes
6. Alignment of the .au Licensing Rules with global best practice
7. Anything else

As an example of an issue, companies can make money selling domain names for whatever they think the buyer will pay. Through auDA the public only gets a small fixed amount of this. Perhaps, like mining royalties, there should be a share, based on value, going to the public. 

Another tricky issue is that not-for- profit domain names can't be profited from. But exactly what is not for profit can be unclear. What was interesting was that those presented and others attended searched for analogies to use to understand the unfamiliar and abstract nature of domain names. One used was land speculating. Following this discussion my suggestion of dutch auctions doesn't seem so odd. Perhaps the stock markets providing another analogy.

There was a review in 2018 and changes were made. 

Australia-Taiwan relations: Policy options and priorities for engagement

Greetings from the launch of the USSC report Australia-Taiwan relations: Policy options and priorities for engagement . This is a timely report, given the uncertain geopolitical situation in our part of the world. This afternoon I drafted my presentation for Australian Defense Tech Hackathon, which starts tomorrow. In my presentation I make the point that senior military people look at what universities produce, be it strategic analysis or new drones. 

 The SSSC report recommends stronger economic ties with Taiwan. They also recommend improving understanding of  Australia's One-China Policy. This is a difficult task, as the policy is deliberately ambiguous and contradictory. The report recommends "Operationalise Australia’s whole-of-government approach to deterrence", which sounds like mobilisation for war.

There are perhaps areas Australia can co-operate with Taiwan on defence and industry. Australia has drone submarine and aircraft projects proceeding well with US companies. However there are no armed vehicle or surface vessel equivalents. Perhaps they could be developed with Taiwan. I asked the panel and they suggested the Australian government could  encourage company to company dual use projects. This is a way to avoid upsetting China too much. I guess the projects could be a rugged robot off-road vehicle suitable for mining and an uncrewed offshore windfarm support vessel. The vehicle would be able to carry shipping container size fuel tank which can refuel mining trucks automatically, and also drone aircraft. The ship coul repair wind farms automatically and also rearm submarines.

Despatch Australian Made World's Largest Battery Ship to Türkiye as Climate Talks Venue

This is to suggest the Australian Government borrow Hull 096 from Tasmanian shipbuilder Incat and send it to Türkiye as a venue for climate change negotiations. The world’s largest battery powered ship, which can carry 2,100 passengers is being completed for service in South America. The vessel could be temporarily renamed "Australia". This would send a message to the world that Australia is serious about renewable energy. 

There is a precedent for the use of an Incat high speed ferry as a venus at an international event. During the Sydney Olympics, Austrade organised Business Club Australia, aboard an Incat ferry at Sydney's Darling Harbour. I was a guest onboard and spoke to Robert Clifford AO, Chairman of Incat on the bridge. 

Voices of Singapore

Up to now I have not been impressed with Google AI. It seemed to just paraphrase the top search hit. But this afternoon wanting something to go to in Singapore I was frustrated by a lack of useful web hits so asked AI. This had several interesting results the first of which was an Autumn Concert for Lovely Moon at Voices of Singapore. This was an eclectic mix on European, Chinese and Japanese music. It is the only concert I have been to where the audience were invited to join in and have a group photo at the end.

History of Singapore Coffee Shops

Greetings from the Foochow Coffee Restaurant & Bar Merchants Association Singapore free muesuim on Singapore coffee shops. You need to go into the building foyer and up to the 4th floor and through the doors. Staff turned on the lights and gave a detailed talk. Or just wander around. 

Charging for Electric Trucks

Windrose electric prime mover,
Photo by Tom Worthington, CC-BY 20 October 2025

In Australian cities there are now chargers at major box retailer's car-parks and shopping centers. There are also small chargers on electricity poles in inner city streets. This week I saw a Windrose electric prime mover at an interstate highway service station, charging at the regular car chargers. Unfortunately, it was so big it was taking up two bays. There will need to be special provision for truck charging. There is still a problem with charging for those in apartments. Building managers are understandably reluctant to have charging in the basement car parks.

Designing Large Drone Weapons Systems in Australia

Ghost Shark submarines at announcement,
Photo by Anduril 9 September 2025

The Australian Government yesterday announced it will spend $1.7bn on a fleet of several dozen Ghost Shark submarines. These will be uncrewed, and made in Sydney by US company Anduril. This received limited media coverage as most of the capabilities and some of the purposes of the submarines are classified. I was asked to talk about this on ABC Radio Nightlife with Philip Clark at 1 am.

At  approximately 5.8 m, the Ghost Shark is one third to one quarter the length of the USA's Orca extra-large unmanned undersea vehicle (XLUUV). The Australian vessel has the advantage of being about the size of a standard shipping container, so it can be transported by truck, train, ship or aircraft. 

The range and power source of the vessel are classified. A reasonable guess is that initial units are powered by lithium batteries, with a diesel engine, which the Orca has,as a later option. Range is likely to be around 1,000 km, far less than the 10,000 km of the Orca, but still with an endurance of several months. These type of XLUUVs are not built for speed, as evidenced by the bulky shape. 

These XLUUVs are likely to be used initially for surveillance, mapping, and patrolling fibre optic cables. They are too small to carry the heavyweight torpedoes used by crewed submarines and too slow for topedio attacks. They are also too small to carry ship or land attack missiles. While minatore torpedoes and missiles are available, the sea mine is likely to be the primary weapon. Australia has already taken delivery of smart sea mines from RWM Italia. These could be laid by the Ghost Shark outside harbours and approaches, programmed to allow civilian to pass, to enforce a blockade. 

Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat at 2023 Avalon Airshow,
Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, 5 March 2023

Australia is also cooperating with Boeing on the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, a moderately stealthy, uncrewed combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). The Ghost Bat has been quietly under development, but came to prominence recently, when Boeing offered it to Poland, to complement F-15 crewed aircraft. The person in the rear seat of the F-15 would control multiple Ghost Bats, each armed with missiles. The  Ghost Bat could also be used to protect surveillance and tanker aircraft, while being controlled from them. Like the Ghost Shark, the Ghost Bat is small enough to be transported easily by road, sea or air. 

Ghost Gecko Concept

A third arm not yet announced for Australia defence is the land equivalent of the Ghosts: a robotic land vehicle. To fill that gap I speculated about a "Ghost Gecko", an Uncrewed Ground Vehicle (UCV) for the Australian Army. This  would be derived from the Hawkei four-wheel-drive protected mobility vehicle. The crew cab would be removed, to lighten the vehicle, and lower its profile. In its place would be an Australian made remotely controlled weapons station (RWS), with a cannon and missiles.

The main area for research and development of these platforms is not the hardware. The problem is the level of autonomous control available. Submarines cannot easily communicate when underwater. The Ghost Shark will need to be able to make decisions itself. The Ghost Bat can be communicated with more easily, however ione operator may be controlling multiple aircraft simultaneously, so a level of autonomy is still needed. Land vehicles have fewer issues, except where large numbers are used. These are issues which are addressed in computer and engineering departments of universities world wide, including in Australia.

Using an Android Phone as a Desktop Computer

Equipment to turn phone into a desktop computer, 
Photo by Tom Worthington,
CC-BY, 6 September 2025

After years of trying, yesterday I was finally able to plug my generic Android phone into a monitor, keyboard and mouse, to turn it into a desktop computer. This was with a Unihertz Atom L phone running Android 11, a second hand Dell D6000s Usb-C Docking Station and an unbranded USB-A To USB Type C OTG Adapter.

First I installed  Synaptics' free Displaylink for Android app. Then I plugged a Dell power supply, mouse, keyboard and monitor into the docking station. I inserted the USB-A plug of the station into the OTG adaptor and the adaptor into the phone. After some head scratching and rebooting the phone, I was asked if I wanted the display sent to the dock. 

The phone display on screen looks like a giant portrait phone display. So I then needed to set the phone to the smallest font, and rotate it to horizontal, so it matched the screen. Within an application, such as web browsing or Google Document, the mouse and keyboard worked fine, like a desktop application. But for moving between applications I used the phone touchscreen. If you need to bash out a book chapter, this would be fine. But you would not be wanting to be working between applications.

The docking station plus power supply is much larger than the phone and there are a lot of cables. This would be fine to leave on a desk, but a nuisance if carrying around. There are smaller adaptors, but do they use DisplayLink? Also the station doesn't charge the phone via the USB cable (there are OTG adaptors which allow you to inject power, but I bought the cheapest one). 

Google are working on a desktop mode for Android, currently in Beta for version  16. This will make it much easier to use applications on a large screen. For non-power users, this should be sufficient. You would just plug one cable into your phone and be in desktop mode.

Fearless Women in fiction and reality

Greetings from the Canberra Bowling Club, where I am attending an author talk by Catherine McCullagh. The event is hosted by Fearless Women for book week. Catherine writes alternate history novels about strong women around WWII. 

I am not sure why I am here. I received an invitation via LinkedIn, but not sure who from. While a fan of alternate history war stories but who knows that?

The last time I was perplexed at an author talk they became a best seller. 

It was an entertaining and informative talk on how to write and some book excerpts. I suggested crowdsourcing details from fans as John Birmingham did for the Axis of Time aeries.

Voice data wireless modem for a return of the home phone

TP-Link TL-MR6500v, 
N300 4G LTE Telephony Wi-Fi Router

My home wireless internet service has been working very reliably. However, after being rushed to hospital in an ambulance recently, I thought it might be useful to have a home phone. In an emergency I don't want to hunt around to find a phone and hope it works. So I connected my home wired phone to a 4G modem. I could not find a single Sim which would do this, so had to run two modems: one for data and one for voice.

Wireless desk phone  

My first option was to buy a 4G wireless desk phone. These look like an old fashioned analog phone, but have a slot for a SIM card and the electronics of a dumb mobile phone inside. These also act as a WiFi hub for home Internet access. They are sold in Australia for seniors, who want the comfort of an old fashioned home phone.

I found one online which also has an ethernet socket. Unfortunately when it arrived this did not work on the Telstra network. So I sent it back and tried again. I ordered another model, but the supplier had discontinued it and returned my money.

Wireless Modem with Phone Socket

For my third attempt I purchased a TP-Link TL-MR6500v, which is a slightly more expensive version of the wireless modem I already had. It is about one centimeter wider, and has a RJ-11 phone socket added on the back. The configuration settings allow the socket to be used for Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) or Voice Over LTE  (VoLTE). VOIP requires purchasing an additional phone service, so calls can be made. However, VoLTE uses the mobile phone account associated with the SIM card inserted in the modem. The phone is then essentially free, with the internet access.

Felix Mobile SIM

My existing Telstra data only SIM worked fine in the new router. This might have been sufficient, if I could make emergency phone calls. However, I was unable to determine, with any certainty, if I could. I tried asking Google, but got conflicting answers.

When I did this search: "Emergency call on telstra data sim", Google AI said yes, I could:

"Yes, you can make emergency calls (000 or 112) on a Telstra data SIM, even if it's a data-only SIM and doesn't have a phone number"

However when I searched on "use telstra data only sim for emergency call", Google AI said no, I couldn't:

"No, a Telstra data-only SIM cannot be used to make emergency calls (like calling 000 in Australia). Emergency calls require a voice service, which is not included in data-only SIM plans." 

I solved the problem by replacing the data only SIM with an ordinary voice/data SIM from another provider (Felix Mobile, owned by TPG). This is $5 a month cheaper than the Telstra data only service and like it is shaped to 1.5 Mbps when the data is used up (rather than being cut off).

I plugged the wireless modem into a phone socket on the wall with an RJ-11 cable (cost $1 at a second hand store). The wall phone in the kitchen, which has been unused for more than a decade, then worked (I kept the phone because it covered a large hole a lazy phone installer left). Felix Mobile uses the Vodafone network, which is different to the service I use for my phone, so if one fails, the other might keep working. The phone is powered from the wireless modem, which in turn is powered from an uninterruptible power supply, so it will keep working in a blackout.   

Amaysim

The Felix Mobile SIM worked fine for calls and data on my laptop. But it did not work at all for my set top box. I am not using the set top box for video streaming, just downloading the program guide. Even so, it appears Felix don't allow more than one data device connected at a time, the service being intended for a smartphone. I could not find a reasonably priced service with shaped data which also had phone access. So I signed up for a year long Pay As You Go (PAYG) service from Amaysim, which uses the Optus network. This charges by the minute for calls and per megabyte for data. The charges are high, but I will not be calling out from the phone normally and I have switched off data access, using the modem just as an interface to the analog phone. I have replaced the Telstra Sim for data in my old modem. I paused the Felix service, so I still have an account if needed, but am not charged (it is sitting in my dual Sim phone). This is not an elegant solution, but workable.

User Group Alive and Well in Sydney

Greetings from the Sydney Linux User Group (SLUG) meeting at Google Sydney. I haven't been to a Slug meeting for years. It is good to see nothing has changed. The same pizza and soda, the same talk topic made entirely of acronyms and attendees who look like extras from Big Bang Theory.

Slug talks are very technical and practical. This is about advanced software which anyone can use. Tonight was on ZFS, with the speaker admitted not being an expert. They then went into detail, contradicting that. Of course it wouldn't be a Slug meeting without a free software zealot taking the speaker to task and someone pointing out a error. Also 85 is often something incidental which is useful, in this case that Gamma was used to generate the slides.

Backing up, the topic tonight l, is a very boring one, untill something goes wrong and you need it. Several decades ago my email stopped working when someone flew an aircraft into the office complex holding the server. It took days to recover.

Wherever you are in the world there will be a user group for something you use, so go along.

HIR, a play about what?

 

Yesterday I attended HIR at the New Theatre in Newtown, Sydney. This is a confronting work about a dysfunctional family. An abused wife takes revenge on her husband, a daughter in transition and a son back from war wondering what happened to the family he left. This is not Broadway Bound, being confronting. All performances are good, as is the set, but it is hard work for the audience, with a few laughs. HIR might be a metaphor for current US politics.

Google AI Gives Wrong Size Conversion for Shoes

I wanted to convert a shoe size from european to US. So I typed "eu38 shoe size us mens" into Google search. The AI result was: "A EU 38 shoe size for men in the US is typically a size 7 or 7.5. Some sources might list it as 7.5". There was a small image of a chart from Bespoke Unit, next to the text. When enlarged this indicated a EU 38 was a US 6. However, the Wikipedia's "European shoe size conversion", and most other sources, has a EU 38 shoe as equivalent to between US 5.5 and 6.5, which is a long way from a 7.5. 

Everyone looks familiar at the Sydney Writer's Festival

Just been to one free and one paid session at the Sydney Writer's Festival. The wine was expensive and seats few at the bar. It had the atmosphere of "Shut up and write", with budding authors tapping away at laptops.