The new Defence Security Resilience Conference (DSRC) held at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Wales was a thumping success, writes Andrew Howell.
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New conferences and exhibitions, quite often struggle to get established, with such a full defence show calendar and time shorter than ever these days. But I guess the ever more troubling world we live in today and the ‘new Defence Investment Plan, together with quite a stellar line-up of key defence, blue light, political and industry notables in attendance, the community was very enthusiastic to get back to making a difference after the summer recess. Even peace protesters, chained to the primary access bridge over the M4, couldn’t deter the spirit and Welsh welcome.
The two-day convention on 3rd and 4th September was held at International Convention Centre (ICC) Wales in Newport, which is arguably the best conference and hotel venue in the UK having played host to the NATO summit and Ryder Cup. The exhibition hall, meet the buyer forum, conference area and spacious food hall were all in one convenient area… and coffee and food were a fraction of the prices demanded at Excel and similar expo venues.
ICC Wales owner Sir Terry Matthews and his team helped spur and unify the collective. Over 2,000+ delegates and 60+ exhibitors, including major primes, the Ministry of Defence, ADS, Police and Fire Chiefs and NATO procurement representatives attended. The Meet the Buyer ‘speed dating’ sessions with these stakeholders were over-subscribed.
Keynote and panel discussions came from industry experts, military leaders, and security specialists. There was a comprehensive insight into the DIP, which was well attended by primes and SMEs alike, from Jim Carter, Director General for Commercial Industry, National Armaments Group, MoD, and from Samira Branud, Defence Director ADS.
Naturally there was a heavy drone presence among the exhibitors, with local Sovereign owned companies UAVE Ltd and Drone Evolution having particularly innovative displays of their latest models.
The new D50+ aircraft, from UAVE, was the largest and most technology capable UAV at the show, novel with its twin engines and four wings, it offered unmatched range, and lift capacity (135kg) in its class. The double nacelles or fuselages, offer extra redundancy and capacity (100+ litres). The four aircraft in the UAVE range are all payload agnostic and are modular and interchangeable. So from one carry case you can assemble in the field two smaller or one large aircraft, depending on your mission. UAVE make many of their propriety components themselves, including the power pack, and the whole aircraft is apparently 99.5% British-made, designed and assembled in West Wales.
Drone Evolution, were also well down the road of using predominately local British components to ensure supply chain resilience. Critically the flight controller, comms and software all being proprietary to Drone Evolution. Their FPV interceptor was being showcased for the first time and had an impressive 5,000m altitude ceiling, with AI targeting.
General Dynamics Land System (GDLS) were a primary sponsor of the show, and outside of the exhibition hall displayed their Light Mobility Vehicle (LMV) bid – a partnership with Ford and Ricardo to pitch a militarised 4×4 commercial derivative of the Ford Ranger for the UK MoD`s forthcoming programme. Their Merthyr Tydfil site is the UK’s largest active armoured vehicle production facility, featuring 236,000 square feet of manufacturing space and a heavy-duty test track.
With 12 months being decided by Phil Jones, the founder and organiser of DSRC, as being too long to wait the next convention is being planned for May 2027. Time and Putin wait for no man comes to mind.
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Author Details: Guest contributor Andrew, a long term friend of JOINT-FORCES and C&S Magazine before that, was formerly CEO of a major Wales-based international defence and blue light sector manufacturing and supply company. On hearing neither our UK-based Editor nor Germany-based Senior Contributor could make it to the inaugural DSRC Wales because of prior commitments, he volunteered to cover the event for us. We just knew he wouldn’t stay retired for long.
