The Freeman Air and Space Institute, in association with the Cranwellian Association are pleased to host 'UK Combat Air Capability: what's needed now and what's next?'. This panel event will discuss the balance of investment between the Typhoon, F-35, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) and the next generation of UK Combat Air capability, being developed in partnership with Italy and Japan, known as GCAP (Global Combat Air Programme). Panellists include FASI Research Fellow Dr Sophy Antrobus, Visiting Professor Sir Christopher Coville, Air Vice-Marshal James Beck, Director with BAE Systems Sir Stuart Atha and Former Chief Executive of the Royal Aeronautical Society and Doctoral Researcher Sir Brian Burridge. The new government has instigated a Strategic Defence Review and this webinar* will give panellists and the audience the opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Combat Air capability in this context.

The panel will be followed by a Q&A session chaired by FASI Research Fellow, Dr Sophy Antrobus and Visiting Professor Sir Christopher Coville.

Please note that the webinar link will be emailed to attendees two hours before the event starts.

 

Chairs

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. She is a Fellow and elected member of the Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Hudson Fellow with the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre and a member of the Royal Air Force Museum Research Advisory Board.

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.

 

Panellists

Sir Stuart Atha KBE CB DSO MA BSc

Stuart Atha is a Director with BAE Systems, responsible for the development and delivery of the Air Training Strategy, a remit that includes enterprise-wide multi-domain training. He is a member of the Air Board, Chair of PPM, a high tech entity, and Head of the UK delegation to the NATO Industrial Advisory Group.

Prior to joining BAE Systems in 2020, Stuart served in the RAF for 35 years. His career was dominated by operations both in the cockpit of fast jets and command, notably in the Balkans, Libya, the Gulf and Afghanistan. After serving as the deputy commander of the Permanent Joint Headquarters, responsible for all UK overseas operations, Stuart completed his Service career as Deputy Commander of the RAF, the Air Force Board Member for Operations, a tour that was dominated by the counter-ISIS campaign in Iraq/Syria and the NATO response to a resurgent Russia.

Stuart is an Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham, lecturing on contemporary air power subjects, and patron of the Jon Egging Trust, a charity that seeks to inspire and develop young people. He also has the privilege to be the RAF Commissioner in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Air Vice-Marshal James Beck OBE MA BEng(Hons)

Air Vice-Marshal James Beck joined the RAF in 1997. Initially flying Tornado GR4, he graduated as a QWI 2004 and throughout his career served on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. During Gulf War 2, he flew the highest number of sorties of any RAF Combat Air pilot during the war.

In 2012 he converted to F-35. The following year he Commanded 17(R) Squadron which become the first non-US unit to operate the F-35 under total sovereign jurisdiction for which he was made an OBE. In July 2019, Beck took Command of RAF Marham – the UK’s sole F-35 Main Operating Base. Finally, following completion of the Higher Command and Staff Course, Beck was promoted to Air Commodore and appointed to be Head Capability Strategy. In April 2024 Air Vice-Marshal Beck assumed the role of Director Capability & Programmes.

Sir Brian Burridge KCB CBE FRAeS

After leaving university with a degree in physics and electronic engineering, Sir Brian Burridge spent a full career as a pilot in the Royal Air Force which included the national joint command in the 2003 Iraq war. He also spent several years in the Ministry of Defence in policy posts and left the RAF in 2006 as Commander-in-Chief Strike Command.

Thereafter, he spent some 15 years in the defence and aerospace industry which included the role of Chief Executive of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has an MBA from the Open University and two honorary doctorates. He was previously a research fellow in international relations at King’s College London and a visiting professor at the University of Reading where he is now engaged in doctoral research on the politico-industrial interface in the defence aerospace sector.