The Freeman Air and Space Institute, in association with the Cranwellian Association are pleased to host 'The Next Battle of Britain: IAMD in the Age of Escalation'. This online webinar discussion will examine the strategic, technological, and organisational challenges facing the UK in defending itself from air attack.

In 1940, The Battle of Britain tested the world’s first air and missile defence campaign, featuring systems of warnings and alerts, the pioneering use of radar, and coordinated efforts to repel German attacks from both the air and the ground. Integrating technology and coordinating the different organisations and capabilities involved was crucial then, and it remains so in modern IAMD. However, as the UK remains far from possessing the modern equivalent of its wartime capability of the 1940s, the strategic role of IAMD in our current geopolitical environment, where we witness daily escalation, has led to its return to the forefront of debate and conversation.

Set to take place online on Friday 7 November 2025, 10:00 - 11:30 GMT, our panel of experts will examine the current IAMD landscape, including the UK’s current and existing capabilities and how allied partners play a crucial part in effective IAMD. The discussion will further highlight how IAMD has played a pivotal role in Russia’s war against Ukraine, whilst also noting NATO’s IAMD re-investment as an indispensable bulwark for allied security.

The conversation will also explore capability shortfalls across the board, exploring where the UK must improve in order to have effective, collaborative and successful IAMD in place.

Our expert panellists – Air Marshal (Retired) Sir Christopher Coville KCB FRAeS, Dr Sophy Antrobus and Air Marshal (Retired) Phil Osborn CBE FRAeS will discuss these key factors followed by a Q&A session.

Register here: Webinar Registration - Zoom

Meet the panel:

Air Marshal (Retired) Sir Christopher Coville

Air Marshal Sir Christopher Coville is a Visiting Professor with the Freeman Air and Space Institute in the School of Security Studies. Sir Christopher joined the Royal Air Force in 1964 as a Flight Cadet at the RAF College Cranwell. After flying training, he served several tours of duty as an operational Lightning and Phantom pilot in the Air Defence role. His early career included staff and command appointments, including commanding No 111 (Fighter) Squadron, a spell in the Falkland Islands in 1983 as Officer Commanding Operations Wing, and later command of RAF Coningsby. Later he held senior appointments in Command, in NATO and in the MOD.

Dr Sophy Antrobus

Dr Sophy Antrobus researches contemporary air power in the context of the institutional, cultural and organisational barriers to innovation and effectiveness in modern air forces, in particular the Royal Air Force. She joined the Freeman Air and Space Institute from Portsmouth Business School at the University of Portsmouth where she was a Teaching Fellow in Strategic Studies. She completed her PhD at the University of Exeter in 2019. Her thesis researched the early politics of air power and networks in Whitehall in the inter-war years.

Prior to her PhD, Sophy served in the Royal Air Force for twenty years including in Iraq and Afghanistan and a tour with the Royal Navy. Sophy is a Visiting Fellow with the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre and a member of the RAF Museum Research Advisory Board. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

She is Co-Director of the Freeman Air and Space Institute. 

Air Marshal (Retired) Phil Osborn

After nearly four decades serving with the United Kingdom Armed Forces, Phil Osborn combines broad public and private sector expertise, with deep experience of Defence and national security.

Most recently in his military career, he was the UK’s Chief of Defence Intelligence until the end of 2018, and as such was at the heart of national security decision making, strategic intelligence provision, and digital and cyber capabilities. Previously, he served as an operational fast jet navigator, he commanded one of the two operational RAF Groups, and led many of the UKs Defence capability programmes, including Combat Air, Information and Digital, and Special Forces.

Currently, within a portfolio of Board-level, senior consultancy, advisory and charity roles, his focus remains raising awareness of today’s more dangerous global context, and the consequent need for pragmatic but urgent transformation of Defence and Security, underpinned by the incorporation of new digital technologies. He also supported the most recent UK Strategic Defence Review, with a focus on the Air domain, and he is a passionate advocate for young people and STEM.