A few thoughts, from an old head, for Nick-Z and associates.
The Drifteron Project obviously did not just magically "pop-up" the other day.
It had to have been conceived, reviewed, approved, and funded.
All of which takes time, lots of time.
It must have had a significant "gestation period", many months, perhaps well more than twelve of them.
The initial concept proposal was germinated in someone's head.
Whose I wonder, where and when ?
Was he or she in the ATSB, DSTG, CSIRO, ANU, Geo Sciences Aus, or elsewhere ?
Who reviewed the proposal for technical merit and / or feasibility ?
Who approved the project, where and when ?
Who funded the project ? Defence, ATSB, AMSA, CSIRO, other ?
Which "vote" did it come out of, under Finance Reg (forty something - it has been so long, was it 42) ?
Then the drifterons had to be actually designed and constructed.
Who actually designed them, where and when ?
What were the design requirements and performance parameters ?
What were the acceptance standards ?
Who determined them ?
Who actually built them, where and when ?
Who inspected, tested, and accepted them ?
When were they actually delivered to ATSB Stores, and by whom ?
What is the intended deployment time frame, location(s) and ongoing operational concept ?
How will they be deployed, by ship or by air-drop ? (Presumably by ship)
Who will deploy the Drifterons and mated GDB's ?
Defence ? Navy or RAAF ?
CSIRO ? Their own vessel, or by a "dedicated contractor", or by multiple "vessels of opportunity" ?
ATSB ? (as per CSIRO).
Other ?
Who will track, and recover, and redeploy, both the GDB's and Drifterons ?
Who will get the tracking data, and what will they do with it ?
Will the data be made public in real time ?
Will it be "free to cyberspace" ?
I "really" do want to know.
The Drifteron Project obviously did not just magically "pop-up" the other day.
It had to have been conceived, reviewed, approved, and funded.
All of which takes time, lots of time.
It must have had a significant "gestation period", many months, perhaps well more than twelve of them.
The initial concept proposal was germinated in someone's head.
Whose I wonder, where and when ?
Was he or she in the ATSB, DSTG, CSIRO, ANU, Geo Sciences Aus, or elsewhere ?
Who reviewed the proposal for technical merit and / or feasibility ?
Who approved the project, where and when ?
Who funded the project ? Defence, ATSB, AMSA, CSIRO, other ?
Which "vote" did it come out of, under Finance Reg (forty something - it has been so long, was it 42) ?
Then the drifterons had to be actually designed and constructed.
Who actually designed them, where and when ?
What were the design requirements and performance parameters ?
What were the acceptance standards ?
Who determined them ?
Who actually built them, where and when ?
Who inspected, tested, and accepted them ?
When were they actually delivered to ATSB Stores, and by whom ?
What is the intended deployment time frame, location(s) and ongoing operational concept ?
How will they be deployed, by ship or by air-drop ? (Presumably by ship)
Who will deploy the Drifterons and mated GDB's ?
Defence ? Navy or RAAF ?
CSIRO ? Their own vessel, or by a "dedicated contractor", or by multiple "vessels of opportunity" ?
ATSB ? (as per CSIRO).
Other ?
Who will track, and recover, and redeploy, both the GDB's and Drifterons ?
Who will get the tracking data, and what will they do with it ?
Will the data be made public in real time ?
Will it be "free to cyberspace" ?
I "really" do want to know.