In a beige concrete office block in Melbourne's inner-city, behind locked doors to which only eight people have access, a scientist sits watching two fighter jets marking a path towards their target – Sydney Harbour.

This is Australia's secret war lab, otherwise known as Lockheed Martin's STELaRLab, an Australian branch of the defence contractor's US research department.





It was launched a year ago with $13 million investment, as a collaboration between the multinational, Defence and the University of Melbourne.

Within, huge computer monitors cover one wall, like something out of a disaster movie.