Naval Theatre
The naval theatre, located within the Naval Zone at DSEI 2013, hosted a keynote address from Admiral Sir George Zambellas, KCB DSC.
He said: “The Royal Navy has this amazing legacy of maritime technical innovation and, to stay ahead of developing threats, we need to maintain this innovative edge through you, through industry, through your technologies. Customers, suppliers, partners in this relationship, we all bear responsibility to think ahead and to innovate.”
The First Sea Lord was joined by an impressive array of eminent naval representatives who lead a series of presentations and panel sessions related to the day’s theme – Future Capabilities.
The programme began with an international panel discussion that compared the nations’ processes and policies for identifying and capturing capability requirements for maritime forces, in particular for the wide range of possible and challenging contingency operations in the emerging security environment.
Senior international and British panellists addressed the future requirements of their respective navies in this context and the advantages of scale that can be achieved by close cooperation.
Members of the panel included: Rear Admiral Duncan Potts, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, Royal Navy; Mr Richard Paniguian, Head of UKTI’s Defence and Security Organisation; and Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, Chief of Naval Research/Director, Innovation, Technology Requirements and Test & Evaluation (N84), Office of Naval Research, US Navy.
The British Army
For the first time, the British Army had a stand at this year’s event. Instead of focusing on the equipment that is on show at DSEI, the Army team of 40 personnel spent the exhibition speaking to industry representatives to encourage them to think of the human aspect of designing equipment.
Brigadier Angus Watson explained: “Fundamentally, military capability is a combination of people and equipment that go together. The emphasis at DSEI is on equipment, but equipment is less effective unless the people who operate it are factored into the design process. Technology is of little utility unless the human dimension is factored into the design.”
Government and Industry
To cement the importance of the relationship between government and industry, in September, a new initiative was announced, designed to identify the defence sector’s core strengths and set out how both government and industry will work together to maximise the UK’s competitive advantage to boost British jobs, trade and growth.
Called ‘Security Prosperity – a strategic vision for the UK Defence Sector’, it was developed by the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP).
Business Minister Michael Fallon and Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Philip Dunne, attended DSEI discuss the new initiative.
Steve Wadey, co-chair of the DGP and Managing Director of MBDA, the company that has developed the new Sea Ceptor missile, explained the benefit of the recently-formed DGP at the event: “I see the DGP as being a huge opportunity for the UK at a national level. It creates the opportunity for MOD and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to talk at a senior level with the defence industry to find new ways of working.”
Unmanned Systems Showcase
Another popular highlight was the Unmanned Systems Showcase, which included a daily scenario demonstration of Northrop Grumman’s unmanned ground vehicle systems. Headlining the demo programme was CUTLASS, Northrop Grumman’s latest generation UGV for the remote handling and surveillance of hazardous threats and Andros Titus, the company’s newest and most intelligent member of the Andros family of UGVs.
Offering visitors a compelling and highly informative focus on the growing unmanned systems sector, the dedicated Unmanned Systems Theatre hosted a number of leading experts such as Cairns Police, Australia who explored factors affecting the wide spread use of UAS by Queensland Police. The seminar theatres across all 6 zones were often standing room only across the week, further highlighting the popularity of all the sessions and the event as a whole.
“The records broken this year demonstrate that DSEI continues to strengthen its position as the world leading defence and security event,” said Event Director Duncan Reid.
“Traditional markets such as Europe and North America were well-represented, whilst the significant growth in presence of emerging markets like the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, bodes well for the future.
“Even at this early stage I can confidently predict that DSEI 2015 will outperform this year’s edition due to the lasting relationships forged with the UK MOD, international delegations and exhibitors – who have re-booked more space for the 2015 show than they did in 2013.”
DSEI 2015 will take place at ExCeL London from 15-18 September 2015.
