The most consequential fast following, though, has been institutional. Ukraine built the world’s first Unmanned Systems Forces (Opens in new window) branch in 2024. Russia’s Rubicon Center was established as a response to Ukrainian drone innovation (Opens in new window) and in November 2025 Moscow stood up its own Unmanned Systems Forces (Opens in new window). Fast following has moved from copying a weapon to copying tactics to copying an entire force structure.
The lesson for Western militaries is not that invention no longer matters but that the institutional capacity to observe, copy, improve and field at speed is now equally important. If fast following is a decisive element in a larger learning and adaptation framework in modern war, the question for Australia is how to do it deliberately and systemically rather than sporadically throughout the force. Several initiatives might assist.
First, establish a dedicated intermediary that connects users, industry and procurement.Military innovation is required for the front line and with the front line. Ukraine’s current advantage is founded on an ecosystem in which front line need, private developers and rapid government procurement are tightly coupled, brokered by organisations such as Brave1 (Opens in new window). Australia needs an analogue.
Second, build a systematic capability to observe foreign wars, with systems for translating insights to the Australian context. The ADF should better study ongoing conflicts and translate their lessons (Opens in new window) into specific capability and doctrine. Context matters in this process. Every candidate innovation should include a judgement about whether, and how, it transfers to Australia’s geography, climate, force structure and potential adversaries (Opens in new window), guarding against the error of emulating the wrong thing.
Third, preserve invention alongside fast following. The ADF must pair a fast-follow capability with protected space for exploration so that a military force can both copy others quickly and, sometimes, be the pioneer worth copying.
Finally, incentivise leaders, reform promotion and reward emulation. None of this works without leaders who value adapting fast, or following fast, over doing things the established way. Peacetime promotion systems tend to reward process discipline and undervalue the adaptive officer who can take risks, copy good ideas quickly and improve them.
Ukraine, Russia, Iran and others have spent over four years proving that in modern war, the race rarely belongs to the first mover alone. It also belongs to whichever side observes, copies, improves and fields fastest. For the Australian Defence Force, hard wiring fast following into doctrine, acquisition and leadership culture is critical.
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