Speakers

General Richard Barrons was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1977, prior to reading for a degree in philosophy, politics and economics at Queen’s College, Oxford. He has completed a Masters in Defence Administration (1990), Army Staff College (1991) and the Higher Command and Staff Course (2003). In 2014 he had the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) conferred on him by Cranfield University. He was appointed MBE in 1993, OBE in 1999, CBE in 2003, awarded QCVS in 2004 and 2006, and appointed as an Officer of the US Legion of Merit in 2009. He is an ADC to Her Majesty The Queen and was appointed KCB in 2013. He is the Colonel Commandant and President of the Honourable Artillery Company and is Honorary Colonel of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.

He has completed a range of regimental duties in UK, Germany and worldwide on training. On operations he has served extensively in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan in UN, UK and NATO appointments. He has commanded units at Battery (B Battery, 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery), Regiment (3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, 1999, including Kosovo and Bosnia) and Brigade (39 Infantry Brigade, in Northern Ireland). As Major General he was Deputy Commanding General of Multinational Corps Iraq (Baghdad, 2008) leading on operations with the Iraqi Armed Forces. He was appointed Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in April 2009 and, shortly afterwards, moved again to be Director Force Reintegration in HQ ISAF assisting the Afghan Governments efforts on Taliban reintegration and political reconciliation.

He was Assistant Chief of the General Staff (2010) covering the Strategic Defence and Security Review and Defence Reform exercises before promoting to Lieutenant General (2011) and taking post as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations), the director of operations for UK armed forces. He assumed command of Joint Forces Command on promotion to General, 19 April 2013.

Air Vice-Marshal James Beck joined the RAF in 1997. Initially flying Tornado GR4, he graduated as a QWI 2004 and throughout his career served on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. During Gulf War 2, he flew the highest number of sorties of any RAF Combat Air pilot during the war.

In 2012 he converted to F35. The following year he Commanded 17(R) Sqn which become the first non-US unit to operate the F-35 under total sovereign jurisdiction for which he was made an OBE. In Jul 19, Beck took Command of RAF Marham – the UK’s sole F-35 Main Operating Base. Finally, following completion of the Higher Command and Staff Course, Beck was promoted to Air Commodore and appointed to be ACOS Cap Strat. In April 2024, Beck was promoted to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal, and assumed the role of Director Capability & Programmes.

Beck is married to Amy and has two children, Charlotte and Oliver. He enjoys football, fly fishing and sailing on the river Cam in his boat.

Mark Berry graduated from Oxford University with a BA (Hons) in Modern History and commissioned into the Household Cavalry in 1999 after training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1998.

Mark attended the United States Army Command and General Staff Course in 2007/8, the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies in 2008/9, and the UK’s Higher Command and Staff Course (2023).

In staff roles he served as Military Assistant for a 2* officer in the UK (2010); in the Army Headquarters Capability branch (2016-18); and as Colonel, Operations for an operational headquarters (2021-23).

He commanded at every level from Troop to Brigade, through the Household Cavalry Regiment (2018-20), as Deputy Commander of a United States 1* formation (2020/21) and in 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team (2023-25). these roles saw him deploy to Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, the broader Middle East. In Ukraine he served as the Chief of Defence Staff’s Liaison Officer (2025/26).

In November 2026 he will assume the role of General Officer Commanding London District and Major General Commanding The Household Division.

Allan is responsible for the growth of Ericsson’s Defence business in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Ericsson are the world leaders in advanced 5G technology and are currently working across NATO on national-scale and tactical communication projects. With previous experience of working at two of Europe’s largest defence primes, Babcock International and BAE Systems, Allan brings a wealth of experience in technology transformation across Air, Land and Sea domains across NATO and international allies.

Air Commodore (Retd) Jason Crawford is co-founder of DroneMatch, the UAS and C-UAS Solution Broker and marketplace convening the C-UAS Strategy Forum. Jason retired from the Royal Air Force in 2023 after a 30-year career as a fast-jet pilot and weapons and electronic warfare instructor, before setting up Highforce Advisory. Highforce is a UK defence and technology consultancy supporting national and international companies entering and growing in the UK defence market, and from which DroneMatch later spun out. In the military, Jason served as Director of the Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Centre, Commander of the Joint CEMA Group, and Senior Responsible Owner of several EW-related projects and programmes. He has Master’s in Air Power (University of Birmingham) and Strategic Studies (USAF Air University) and is a graduate of the Major Project Leadership Academy.

Craig is a globally renowned UAS expert who has led the Special User community in a revolution of novel technology, which is acting as the vanguard for UK Defence and support to our partners. Many of Defence’s emerging new ways of delivering capability been borne from his groundbreaking projects.

With over 22 years in the military before retiring last year, the last 12 of which were dedicated to UAS Special Projects, Craig (Fish) Fisher has been fortunate enough to lead teams to develop and deliver over 37 Defence ‘Firsts’. Experience spanning from tactical discreet/covert capabilities to pseudo satellites, with the 3 most notable recent achievement’s being developing and delivering the UK’s first (and still only) successful tactical on the man strike capability, tactical precision strike Loiter Munition capability and Long Range One Way Effector capability. All of these were achieved outside of traditional Equipment Programme (EP) methodology and all concurrently in under a year.

His work saw his team operate 2-3 years in advance to even the Jt UAS Test and Evaluation Units, which has meant they unlocked the hardest challenges that were limiting the potential to capitalise on these capabilities, namely policy, regulation both for UAS and Weapons, legal reviews, risk identification and mitigation to name a few.

Since his retirement late last year he has established Aero Foundry with his Co-Founder Paul Blagbrough. Aero Foundry has quickly become an industry leading advisory company, supporting across a broad spectrum of emerging capabilities including C-UAS.

Richard Gill is the Founder and CEO of Drone Defence, a UK sovereign airspace intelligence and counter-UAS technology company, with extensive experience in developing and deploying technologies to address evolving drone threats.

Since establishing Drone Defence in 2016, Richard has led the development of integrated sensing, tracking, detection and defeat systems supporting defence, critical national infrastructure, public safety and commercial operators. Under his leadership, the company has secured DASA innovation funding, deployed operational systems internationally and received government recognition for its contributions to counter-drone security.

Drawing on a background in the British Army, Richard combines operational experience with expertise in defence innovation, procurement, strategic partnerships and the commercialisation of advanced technologies.

His focus is on strengthening sovereign UK counter-UAS capability, accelerating the deployment of operationally effective solutions and developing the persistent airspace awareness infrastructure needed to counter emerging threats while enabling the safe integration of autonomous systems.

Ewa Gowers is the Head of Operations and Programmes within the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Safety and Airspace Regulation Group (SARG), with responsibility for a portfolio of key uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) products and programmes. She leads delivery of the CAA Future of Flight Programme, focused on enabling the safe integration of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations at scale across the UK. Ewa also oversees the UK’s Market Surveillance Authority (MSA) for drones and is responsible for several of the CAA’s core UAS regulatory products and platforms. With over seven years at the CAA and more than 15 years previously as a Management Consultant at Accenture, she brings extensive experience in technology-enabled transformation, product management, regulation, and the safe adoption of emerging aviation technologies.

Georgia leads the business’s technology capabilities and nationwide operations. With more than 20 years of experience delivering major capital programmes, digital transformation and customer operations in complex regulated industries, Georgia has built a strong track record of driving innovation and operational excellence.

Before joining M Group, Georgia spent 12 years at BT Group, most recently leading Openreach’s Fibre Build unit. There, she managed a team of 8,000 engineers and worked with industry partners to help bring fibre broadband to seven million homes across the UK. Earlier in her career, she worked at Accenture across the Financial Services and Oil & Gas sectors.

Georgia is a Board member of the Infrastructure Client Group, a passionate STEM ambassador and an advocate for inclusion and diversity.

James Kinsman is Chief Technical Officer at Overview, where he leads the development of advanced sensing and surveillance technologies for defence and security applications.

An experienced engineering leader, James specialises in sensor systems, low-latency processing, intelligent tracking and the integration of emerging technologies into operational environments. His work includes the development of Overview’s PodView platform, supporting agile sensing and enhanced situational awareness for counter-uncrewed aerial systems (C-UAS) applications.

James is particularly focused on the role of artificial intelligence, autonomy and sensor interoperability in addressing evolving threats. He advocates closer collaboration between government, industry and technology SMEs to accelerate innovation and deliver operational capability.

Through his work, James contributes to advancing responsive, integrated sensing solutions that strengthen defence capabilities against increasingly sophisticated drone threats.

Group Captain Lindsay commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1996 following a University Air Squadron cadetship and served as a Tornado GR1/GR4 pilot, Qualified Weapons Instructor, and instructor on the Tornado QWI Course. He later held capability development and programme management appointments within the Ministry of Defence and Air Command.

Between 2014-16, Tim commanded No. 905 Expeditionary Air Wing in the Falkland Islands, overseeing the UK’s South Atlantic air operations and supporting the introduction of the AW189 Search and Rescue capability. He subsequently completed the Advanced Command and Staff Course and served at Air Command overseeing RAF global operations, following which he led the Tornado Programme within the Saudi British Defence Co-operation Programme, providing advice, assistance and assurance to the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Following command of No. 3 Flying Training School, Tim became DACOS UK Operations in 2023. He is currently responsible for UK Air Defence and Homeland Resilience, including Integrated Air and Missile Defence, Military Aid to Civil Authorities, the RAF Regional Liaison Officer network, and bespoke UK operations.

Inspector Michael Paterson joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 2000. He has more than 20 years’ experience working in Counter Terrorism and National Security Policing, and has extensive experience working in Operations, Intelligence, Policy and Capability Development at both a local and national level. Mike joined the National Counter Terrorism Policing HQ in 2017, and in 2020 he became the Inspector of the national Counter Drones Unit within CTPHQ. He was responsible for developing and delivering an effective, robust Counter Drone capability for UK policing which has been used for events such as G7, COP26, Commonwealth Games and numerous other national and global State events.

Mike was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2022 for services to Counter Terrorism, and he continues to work with domestic and international Government, Military, Intelligence, Security and Industry partners to ensure that policy, technical and operational responses are fit to meet the evolving threat.

Ash spent 18 years in UK policing and protective security, specialising in counter terrorism and hostile reconnaissance disruption. He trained international law enforcement partners on behalf of the Home Office International Capabilities Team, and was Business Change Lead and operational SME on the City of London Police’s Secure City programme, a multimillion-pound rollout of cloud-based CCTV, video analytics and sensor systems.

He is now Business Development Lead at Vizgard, which adds visual AI to existing camera systems for counter-drone and security operations, and chairs The Security Institute’s AI and New Emerging Technologies Special Interest Group. This gives him an operator’s view of how new technology works in practice.

Graham Skinner is Health & Safety Manager at Offshore Energies UK, where he leads industry collaboration on offshore safety, security and operational resilience. His responsibilities encompass major accident hazards, aviation and maritime safety, and critical infrastructure protection.

A Chartered Engineer and member of the Energy Institute, Graham has extensive international experience in offshore drilling operations, safety and risk management, including roles in the Middle East and Africa. Before joining Offshore Energies UK in 2023, he served as a Specialist Inspector at the UK Health and Safety Executive.

Graham also supports UK and Scottish Government resilience initiatives, bringing valuable expertise in protecting offshore energy infrastructure and addressing emerging security threats.

Chris Trelawny became Deputy Secretary General of INTERPORTPOLICE on 1 January 2022. Before that, he spent 18 years in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretariat working with Governments, IOs and NGOs on maritime security, maritime development and the sustainable blue economy.  His posts included Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Maritime Security and Facilitation, Chief, Maritime Development and Acting Director of IMO Technical Cooperation Division.  He focussed on multi-agency approaches to maritime safety, security, and facilitation, , including piracy, migrant smuggling and the international wildlife trade.  His major projects included writing and delivering the IMO maritime security “Train the Trainer” course, the counter-piracy Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC), the Yaoundé Code of Conduct, and the Jeddah Amendment to the DCoC, 2017.  He served for 30 years as a naval reservist and is a Younger Brother of Trinity House.  Before joining IMO in 2003, Chris spent 10 years in aviation security roles and 8 years as a customs officer, serving at sea with both HM Customs and the Royal Navy.