RUSI Integrated Air and Missile Defence Conference 2025

Though IAMD is an inherently joint effort, it has domain specific characteristics since the capabilities which are critical to each service and the assets at their disposal for defence are not identical nor are the threats which they face. The specific characteristics of the air and missile challenge in each traditional domain requires consideration. Equally, the mix of capabilities held across individual services also provides opportunities for services to draw on each other’s sensors and effectors in an integrated system to offset the limitations of any individual service’s organic air defences. This panel will examine the requirements for an effective air and missile defence in the traditional domains as well as the ways in which they intersect. 

Chair: Paul O’Neill, Senior Associate Fellow, RUSI

Speakers:   
Air Commodore Blythe Crawford, Commandant Air and Space Warfare Centre
'IAMD as Both an Enabler and a Component of Air Operations' 

Commodore Marcus Hember, Deputy Director Navy Capability Plans, Royal Navy
'IAMD in and from the Maritime Domain'

Wing Cdr Andrew Bates, Deputy Commander 7 Air Defence Group
'Air Defence in Support of Corps Level Operations'

Dr Philippe Roudier, Area Protection Product Line Group Director, MBDA

Various factors, such as tight deadlines and the complexities involved in transferring information between systems, render integration a particularly challenging endeavour. This difficulty is amplified in the realm of Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD), where time constraints are a fundamental aspect. Furthermore, the challenges are not solely technical; they also encompass critical Command and Control (C2) frameworks that must effectively reconcile the needs for both coordination and decentralisation. This panel will explore the necessary organisational and technical requirements to facilitate successful integration within the air and missile defense domain.

Chair: Jason Reynolds, Vice President and General Manager for Integrated Air and Missile Defence, Lockheed Martin

Speakers:
Air Commodore Andrew Martin, Deputy Director Capability and Programmes, HQ Air Command  RAF
'Command and Control of an Integrated Air Defence System' 

Brigadier General (ret) Kenn Todorov, Vice President and General Manager, Combat Systems and Mission Readiness, Northrop Grumman

Joe Maggs, IAMD Programme Officer NATO Defence Investment Division

Brigadier General Arnt Kuebart, Commander Ground-Based Forces, Air Force Forces Command

Speaker: Major General John Holly, Former Deputy Director, US Missile Defence Agency 
'The Imperative of Homeland Missile Defense'

 Discussant: Tom McKane, RUSI Distinguished Fellow

As seen in recent conflicts, the expenditure of effectors will strain most complex weapons pipelines and defence budgets. This will be especially true for air defence interceptors, which are among the most complex weapons produced by the defence sector. How can both defence and industry collaborate deliver the capacity to defend fielded forces from threats which are currently cheaper and more numerous than defensive systems?

Chair: Dr Sidharth Kaushal Senior Research Fellow, RUSI

Speakers:
Dr Brad Pietras, RUSI Associate Fellow
'The Tradeoffs Inherent to Systems Design' 

Dr Thomas Withington, RUSI Associate Fellow
'EW and Soft Kill as a Means of Cost Reduction' 

Dr Anthony Wraight, Director Missile Defence Centre, UK MoD
'Technological Solutions to the Challenge of Scale'

Rear Admiral (ret) Archer Macy, Former Director, Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defence Organization 
'Organising an Air Defence Network to Counter the Large Scale Employment of Low Cost Threats'

Speaker: Bogusz Madej, Policy Officer, IAMD Section, NATO Defence Investment Division 

Discussant: Matthew Savill, Director Military Sciences RUSI 

Speaker: Oleksandra Azarkhina, CEO & Co-founder of the We Build Ukraine Foundation

Discussant: Sam Cranny Evans, RUSI Associate Fellow 

Speaker: Brigadier General (ret) Ran Kochav, Former Commander IDF Air Defence Command

Discussant: Dr Sidharth Kaushal, Senior Research Fellow RUSI