The Freeman Air and Space Institute is pleased to be hosting its 2024 Summer Event, 'Defence Question Time' in MB4.2 at King's College London. The event will take place at 16.30 on 17 June - places can be booked in person or online.*

This will be an engaging and informative evening dedicated to understanding the current issues facing the defence and security sector during the biggest year in election history. This will be a unique opportunity to interact directly with a panel of esteemed experts from the field of defence and security.

Our distinguished panel will bring together air, space and defence professionals and chair for the evening will be BBC broadcaster and former Defence Correspondent, Caroline Wyatt. Panellists will be announced in the coming weeks so be sure to follow us on X and LinkedIn and to sign up to our mailing list.

The event will follow the format of the well known BBC show of the same name. We encourage you to submit your questions ahead of time using this form or by emailing fasi@kcl.ac.uk. The event will be followed by a drinks reception in the Somerset Room, KCL.

Biographies

Caroline Wyatt

Caroline Wyatt was born in Australia, and studied German and English at Southampton University, and journalism at City University before joining the BBC in 1991.

For almost two decades, she reported on global affairs as a foreign correspondent based in Germany, France and later Russia, as well as covering conflicts in Kosovo, Chechnya and the Middle East.

She returned to the UK in 2007 as the BBC's defence correspondent, reporting on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the battles behind the scenes in Whitehall.

Caroline was awarded the Desmond Wettern Prize for her coverage of the Royal Navy, and received a special award from the Air League for her reporting on the RAF.

In 2014, Caroline moved from reporting defence to covering global religious affairs before a diagnosis of MS curtailed her travels in 2016.

She now works as the presenter of Radio 4’s Saturday PM news programme, and has made radio documentaries including ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears’ on BBC Radio 4 about the legacy of the Afghan war for British veterans, and ‘Iraq War: A choice of horrors’ for the World Service.

Greg Bagwell CB CBE MSc FRAeS

Greg Bagwell served for 36 years in the Royal Air Force, retiring as an Air Marshal, Deputy Commander and a member of the Air Force Board. He flew the Tornado GR1, GR4 and F-18 Hornet on operations for over 20 years. In his final three years as Deputy Commander he
was responsible for the safety, supervision and force generation and delivery of all RAF operations, at home and overseas.

On leaving the Service, in 2017, he became the Head of Business Development for Cobham plc, and in 2020 he became, and remains, an Executive Director of Cobham Ltd. He also holds an executive role at Ultra Ltd and a non-executive directorship at NATS, the UK's National Air Traffic Service

He is the President of the UK Air & Space Power Association, a Distinguished Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

He is a trustee of the not-for-profit organisation Flying for Freedom, which, provides wounded and injured servicemen flying instruction on microlights, with the ultimate aim for them to fly an expedition to the South Pole.

Anita Bernie

Anita is the Managing Director of MDA Space UK (“MDA UK”), with staff in Harwell, Manchester, and Stevenage. Anita has an acknowledged industry pedigree, having started her career as a spacecraft design engineer at Airbus.
She has held many leadership positions in the space industry, including a number of Director roles at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited.

Anita has full P&L responsibility for MDA Space UK, with the support of MDA Space, Canada’s largest and most successful space company with a 55+ year heritage in Geointelligence, Satellite Systems and Robotics and Space Operations.

Anita is an Honorary Group Captain in Royal Air Force 601 Squadron, providing Advice, Advocacy and Access to the senior leadership of the RAF and MOD. She is a Trustee of leading UK charity The Air League, whose mission is to inspire young people by awarding scholarships, flight experiences and work opportunities through aviation, aerospace, and space; and is a prior Board Member of nanosatellite pioneers AAC Clyde Space and of the Institute of Directors.

Anita possesses an Aerospace Engineering Degree and an MBA, is a regular speaker on space industry developments and is an advocate for STEM.

Professor Anand Menon

Anand Menon is Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at Kings College London. He also directs the UK in a Changing Europe project (www.ukandeu.ac.uk). His areas of research interest include the policies and institutions of the European Union, European security, and British politics.

He contributes regularly to both print and broadcast media. He is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of the European Union (OUP, 2012), and co-author of Brexit and British Politics (Polity 2018). He is a trustee of Full Fact a member of the Strategic Council of the European Policy Centre, a Council member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and an associate fellow of Chatham House.

*If you book an online ticket you will receive an email with a Zoom link two days before the event and again two hours before the event start.

Please note that filming/photography will be taking place at this event for promotional and archival purposes. The photographs and recordings made are likely to appear on our website/social channels. If you would prefer not to be photographed please let a member of staff know prior to the event beginning.