Telford plays host to Defence and Security Convention

This year, the convention introduced an additional day focused on the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), providing an invaluable platform for defence professionals to discuss and shape the future of UK Defence.  

The SDR, directed by the UK Government, will examine the roles, capabilities, and reforms required for UK Defence to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 

SDSC-UK will play a pivotal role in this process, with a dedicated day of expert panel discussions chaired by Major General (retired) Robin Anderton-Brown, formerly Director of Capability, UK MOD Strategic Command and a long-time supporter of the convention. 

The insights and recommendations gathered from these discussions will be submitted to the SDR review team to help inform its ongoing work.

The first day of the conference was dedicated to a focused industry day which included insightful presentations from DE&S and UKStratCom giving some vital detail on the Special Projects portfolio, new approaches and better ways to work with industry. 

Most prominent on the agenda, was the VULCAN ecosystem, an innovative approach to sharing information more efficiently, allowing a  more effective way of connecting innovation supply to Government demand. 

Throughout  the conference, attendees were able to engage with senior UK Ministry of Defence leaders, US Department of Defence representatives, and global industry experts. A highlight was the Future Comparative Testing (FCT) session which gave industry representatives the opportunity to meet key members of the FCT and Army Futures Command. 

These ‘Meet the Buyer’ sessions provided organisations with the opportunity to showcase their innovations and a chance to explore cutting-edge technologies tailored to defence and security needs.

Commodore Paul Rose, Head of Capability Special Projects, said: "It’s amazing to be back at SDSC-UK for another year with industry, small and medium enterprises, up to large primes, working with us in Defence to try and deliver amazing capabilities for our specialist community."

“It’s great to be here in person,” added Patrick Badar, Deputy Director, U.S Army Combat Capabilities, Dev Command. 

"You get to interact; not only with the people, the manufacturers, the technology but having this two way dialogue is important in getting a better understanding of what is available to us in the U.S Army.”