Defence Talks: Securing UK Advantage Council on Geostrategy, ADS Group and BAE Systems

With a general election expected sometime in 2024, we consider what the key policy priorities are for the defence of the United Kingdom and Britain’s defence industry. Joined by Sir Michael Fallon, former Secretary of State for Defence, and Samira Braund, Defence Director at ADS Group, we consider what more Britain could be doing to invest in the domestic defence industry and the importance of international collaboration to secure the UK’s advantage.

Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of NATO, we reflect on the role that the UK has played in the organisation and what this means in the current threat environment. Joined by Lord Robertson, former Secretary General of NATO, and AVM Fin Monahan, Director of DCDC, the independent think tank of the Ministry of Defence, we consider the main challenges facing NATO and how Britain can shape the future of the alliance.

This episode discusses the growing importance of space in the context of defence and consider the strategic role of the UK. Joined by Elizabeth Seward, Head of Space Strategy and Future Business at BAE Systems, and Juliana Suess, Research Analyst and Policy Lead for Space Security at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), we will examine the current capabilities of the UK and look to where Britain should be focusing its efforts.

Ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s renewed aggression against Ukraine, we examine the current status of Russia’s war against Ukraine and why ensuring a Ukrainian victory is vital to Britain’s security. Joined by Andy Start, CEO of Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) at the Ministry of Defence and Mark Galeotti, Director of Mayak Intelligence and author of Putin’s Wars, we consider how we can maintain support for Ukraine and what more Britain could be doing.

In this episode we examine critical skills and what this means for employees in defence both now and in the future. We discuss the measures being taken to attract new talent into the UK’s defence sector, particularly in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Paul Oxley, Director of Government and Policy at ADS Group is joined by David Robinson, Director of Post-16 and Skills at the Education Policy Institute and Tilly Watts, an Engineering Degree Apprentice at BAE Systems.

In this special episode, we reflect on the highlights from the first five episodes of Defence Talks: Securing UK Advantage. In 2023 we focused on topics ranging from the ‘refresh’ of the Defence Command Paper to the role of ESG in defence industry and discussed the most important issues facing British defence with guests including The Rt. Hon. James Heappey MP, Minister of State for Armed Forces, Angela Owen OBE, Founder of Women in Defence UK, and Prof. Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London.