Australian Defence Force goes woke renaming ‘unmanned’ drones to become more gender inclusive

• Defence Force removing gender-specific terms 
• Drones renamed to ‘uncrewed’ aerial vehicles from ‘unmanned’ 
• READ MORE: War Memorial uses gender neutral language for tributes 

The Australian Defence Force has banned the term ‘unmanned’ when referring to drones as part of wide-ranging efforts to make its language more politically correct. 

Senior officers spearheaded a ‘gender neutral project’ in 2021 and 2022 during which they examined official ADF documents to find areas where language could be changed to be more inclusive. 

A drone, previously known as ‘unmanned aerial vehicle’ (UAV) or ‘unmanned aerial system’ (UAS), was renamed to ‘uncrewed’ while other changes under consideration included replacing ‘man-hours’ with ‘staff hours’ and ‘he/she’ with ‘they’. 

The directive to refer to drones as ‘uncrewed’ appears to originate from director general of the Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA), Air Commodore Joseph Medved, according to Freedom of Information documents obtained by The Australian. 

The Defence Aviation Safety Authority has renamed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones to Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles in a bid to eliminate gender specific language

A drone, previously known as ‘unmanned aerial vehicle’ (UAV) or ‘unmanned aerial system’ (UAS), was renamed to ‘uncrewed’ while other changes under consideration included replacing ‘man-hours’ with ‘staff hours’ and ‘he/she’ with ‘they’ (stock image)

‘Directors, as we move forward on significant policy and organisational changes please ensure that all of your teams adopt contemporary terminology for UAS – Uncrewed Aircraft Systems from this point forward,’ he wrote in October 2021.

‘This applies to all policy, positions, organisations, regulations, forms.’ 

According to the heavily redacted documents, Air Commodore Medved’s email trickled down through various departments and prompted staff to make a spreadsheet on which terms could be nominated for removal.

A March 2022 email from a Defence member whose name was redacted was given the subject line ‘Removal of gendered terms from the DASR’. 

The Defence Aviation Safety Regulation is a set of wide-ranging documents providing a framework for DASA’s operations. 

The Defence member asked for endorsement to replace the terms ‘he/she’ with ‘they’, ‘man-hours’ with ‘staff-hours’ and ‘unmanned’ with ‘uncrewed’ by the following week. 

Some Defence members raised concerns that changing man-hours to staff-hours would cause confusion as the term ‘staff’ has a distinct meaning within the ADF.

The ‘gender neutral project’ appears to follow former Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s directive in May 2021 that the Defence Department stop promoting a ‘woke agenda’. 

His order was prompted after defence staff wore rainbow clothing and held a morning tea to celebrate the ‘international day against homophobia, biphobia, intersexphobia and transophia’.

Mr Dutton said he was against discrimination but that staff should be focused on their job, especially during a period in which the Covid pandemic was in full swing and tensions were heightened with China.

When Labor was voted in the following year, new Defence Minister Richard Marles overturned the ban.

Labor Defence Minister Richard Marles overturned a directive from predecessor Peter Dutton that the ADF stop pursuing a ‘woke agenda’

‘We recognise a diverse workforce supported by an inclusive culture is essential to Defence’s capability and effectiveness,’ a memo sent announcing the scrapping of the ban sent from defence secretary Greg Moriarty and chief General Angus Campbell said.

The term unmanned for drones is still used on an Army website, though the Army was also under scrutiny in August for announcing it had changed its combat ration labelling from ‘one man’ to ‘one person’. 

Also in August the ABC reported the ADF Academy had directed cadets to wear purple in support of Wear it Purple Day, an annual event to celebrate the LGBTIQA+ community.

Shadow defence minister and former army officer Andrew Hastie said the ADF was trying to ‘ram home a political agenda’ and that it should be more concerned about building a robust workforce. 

Australian veterans group The Pineapple Express previously said resources spent on gender-neutralising language used in the ADF could be better spent on the wellbeing of members including ‘high-quality healthcare, mental health support, and a clear transition process into civilian life for veterans.’

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