CNE 2026 Speakers
Each year, the Combined Naval Event brings together an exceptional lineup of speakers from across the global naval and maritime defence community. The 2026 edition features senior naval personnel, technical experts, and strategic thinkers from navies, industry, government, and academia — all sharing insights that are shaping the future fleet.
From operational commanders and procurement officials to innovators in shipbuilding, autonomous systems, and survivability, our speakers deliver invaluable perspectives across the full naval mission spectrum.
The agenda for CNE 2026 is now available to view and download:
2026 Speaker line-up

Dave Allen
Director Business Development, Anduril Industries UK

Captain Ali Ashour
Senior Engineering Officer, MOI-KCG / State of Kuwait

Commodore Steve Banfield
Maritime Capability Coalition, Royal Navy

Bill Biggs
MHC System of Systems Architect, DE&S

Commodore (Ret’d) David Burton
NATO ASW Barrier Programme, NATO

Commander Martin Byrne
Director Naval Major Crown Projects – Submarines, Royal Canadian Navy

Rear Admiral Paul Flos
Program Director International Naval Materiel Cooperation, Dutch Ministry of Defence

Vice Admiral Robert Gaucher
Commander Submarine Forces, US Navy

Commander Mathieu Girardot
French Navy Support Dpt HQ – Technical Sub-Directorate – Deputy Director, French Navy Support Dpt HQ – DCSSF

Captain Scott Hattaway
Director MCM Technical Division, Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Centre

Chris Izuka
Naval Key Account Manager, GE Vernova

Andy Lapsley
Mine Hunting Capability Team Leader, DE&S

Vice Admiral Paul Marshall CB
Director General Options and Commissioning, UK MoD DE&S

Rear Admiral Antonio Mateus
Director Ships, Portuguese Navy

Commodore Philip Nash
Deputy Director, Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence

Anthony Penn
Chief Commerical Officer, Exail

Jake Rigby
Head of Innovation and Research, BMT

Mark Rushton
Global Defence and Security Lead, VITEC SA

Caryl Russell
Platform Equipment Delivery Team Head, Submarine Delivery Agency

Jürgen Scraback
Head of Unit Maritime Domain, European Defence Agency

Vice Admiral Richard Seif
Submarine Force Commander, US Navy

Commodore Sam Shattock
Head of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Ulrik Sköldkvist
Project ManagerUnderwater Warfare WEapons,, Swedish FMV

Rear Admiral Matthew Stratton
Deputy Director NESA within Navy Acquisition,, Royal Navy

H I Sutton
OSINT Analyst, Covert Shores, UK

Vice Admiral (Ret’d) Jeffrey Trussler
Former Deputy Chief of the Naval Operations for Information Warfare, US Navy

Rear Admiral Belisario Zagazeta
Director Naval Projects, Peruvian Navy

Trevor Mckerlich
Systems Engineer, DE&S

Rear Admiral Hakan Ucar
Commander of Naval Technical Command, Turkish Navy

Bas Buchner
Director of Uncrewed Systems, Royal Netherlands Navy

Bart Hollants
Chairman NATO Innovation, NATO Allied Command Transformation

Commodore Claus Lundholm Andersen
Director of Naval Programs, Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation

Jonathan Reed-Beviere
Mine Hunting Capability Programme Director, Royal Navy

Eyal Zohar
Head of Marketing & Business Development – Naval Systems, IAI/ELTA Systems Ltd.

Andrew Tims
Deputy Director Clyde Capital Programme, Royal Navy

Rear Admiral Andy Perks
Director Submarines, Royal Navy

Rear Admiral Angus Essenhigh
National Hydrographer & Director Data Acquisition and Defence, UK Hydrographic Office

Annabelle Ransome-Willams
Programme Director SSN-AUKUS, Submarine Delivery Agency

Commodore Anthony Williams
Head of Capability, UK Space Command

Rear Admiral Antony Rimington
Director Force Generation, Royal Navy

Captain Auðunn Kristinsson
Director of Operations and Strategic Planning, Icelandic Coast Guard

Captain Bill Miante
Deputy Commodore TF63, Military Sealift Command Europe and Africa, US Navy

Captain Ricardo Braz Freitas
Maritime Program Manager, European Defence Agency

Commodore Brendon Clark
Co-Director Maritime Fleet Renewal, Royal New Zealand Navy

Catarina Buchatskiy
Director of Analytics, Snake Island Institute

Chihiro Hirai
Research Staff – Unmanned Maritime Vehicle Research Section, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA)

Captain Chongsu Lim
Head of Force Planning Division N5 – ROKN HQ, ROK Navy

Captain (ret.) Christopher Sharman
Director of China Maritime Studies Institute, US Naval War College

Rear Admiral Cornel-Eugen Cojocaru
Fleet Commander, Romanian Navy

Commander Cristiano Raffele Martino
Chief of the 1st Section – Propulsion Systems, Italian Naval Armaments Directorate

Vice Admiral Curt Renshaw
Commander U.S. Navy 5th Fleet, US Navy

Dan Packer
AUKUS Director- Commander Submarine Forces, US Navy

Captain Daniel Thomassen
Commander 1st Frigate Squadron, Royal Norwegian Navy

Captain Decio Trinca
U212 Programme Manager, OCCAR

Commander (ret’d) Dickie Burston RN
Chairman NIAG SG315, NATO Industrial Advisory Group

Commander Gabriel de Roquefeuil
PA-Ng Programme Officer, French Navy

General Sir Gwyn Jenkins
First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Commandant General of the Royal Marines, Royal Navy

Captain Hugues Vallette
Seabed Warfare Coordinator, French Navy

Commander J. Bremer
Head Unmanned and Autonomous Systems, NL COMMIT

Brigadier Jaimie Norman
Commanding Officer 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines Commandos

Brigadier Jaimie Roylance RM
Chief Technology Officer, Royal Navy

Rear Admiral (ret’d) James Parkin
Former Director Develop, Royal Navy

Jim Carter
Director General Commercial and Industry, NAD Group

Captain Jim Robertsen
Head of the Norwegian Submarine Service, Royal Norwegian Navy

Commander Johannes Riber
Military Analyst, Royal Danish Defence Academy

John Sinclair
Commercial Officer – FR/UK Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) Programme Division, OCCAR-EA

Commodore Jon Carrigan
Deputy Director, National Shipbuilding Office UK

Captain Joost Meesters
Head of Maritime Projects, Netherlands COMMIT

Commander SG Kai Nickelsdorf
Commander 1st Submarine Squadron, German Nav

Keith Bethell
Director Maritime Environment, National Armaments – Materiel

Admiral Sir Keith Blount KCB OBE
Former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO


Kuno Peek
Project Manager, Estonian Centre for Defence Investments

Commodore Kyrre Haugen
Fleet Commander, Royal Norwegian Navy

Lew Ee Kent
Head Capability Development – Unmanned Maritime Systems, Singapore DSTA

Lorenzo Raciti
Programme Manager, OCCAR

Sebastien Le Bouter
Deputy Programme Manager, OCCAR

Commodore Marcel Rosenburg
Naval Base Commander Portsmouth, Royal Navy

Commodore Marcus Rose
Deputy Director Underwater Battlespace Capability, Royal Navy

Vice Admiral Markku Hassinen
Chief of the Border Guard, Finnish Border Guard

Captain Masahiko Ito
Director of Systems Programs Division, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Forces

Dr Matthew Ford
Associate Professor, Swedish Defence University

Commodore Michael Turner
Director General Maritime Integrated Capabilities, Royal Australian Navy

Captain Mike Dolbec
Commodore – UUVGRUV, US Navy

Captain Niels Markussen
Director NATO Shipping Centre & NATO Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure, NATO MARCOM

Rear Admiral Özgür Ekren
Commander of Istanbul Strait Component and CTF Black Sea, Turkish Naval Forces

Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky
Senior Partner, NATO Innovation Fund

Captain Paul Barker
Captain Clyde X, Royal Navy

Vice Admiral Paul Beattie CBE
Second Sea Lord, Royal Navy
Paul Carroll OBE
Director Submarines Acquisition, Submarine Delivery Agency

Commander Vianney Peu-Duvallon
Barracuda Program Manager – SSN Class, French Navy Headquarters (EMM)

Commander Pierre Van Engeland
Project Manager rMCM, Belgian Navy

Commander SG (ret’d) Rami Keinänen
Programme Manager – Navy Command, Finnish Navy

Commander Ricardo Pereira da Silva
Staff Officer for Expeditionary Operations, NATO Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence

Rear Admiral Rich Harris
Director Develop, Royal Navy

Richard Olsen
Director of Research, Space, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment

Captain Robert Watt
Director of Naval Strategy, Royal Canadian Navy

Commander Rory Armstrong
Commanding Officer – Diving and Threat Exploitation Group, Royal Navy

Commodore Sheikh Mubarak Ali Al-Sabah
General Director of the General Directorate of the Kuwait Coast Guard, Kuwait Coast Guard

Commodore Steve Bolton
Deputy Director Aviation Programmes and Futures, Royal Navy

Captain Thomas Stig Rasmussen
Commander of the 2nd Squadron, Royal Danish Navy
Commodore Thomas Andersen
Co-Leader Maritime Capability Coalition for Ukraine, Royal Norwegian Navy

Commander Thomas Scalabre
Commander of MICA Centre, French Navy

Tim Anderson
Director Government SaaS, Terradepth

Rear Admiral (ret’d) Torben Mikkelsen
Former Admiral Danish Fleet, Royal Danish Navy

Captain Andrea Molaschi
Chief of the Italian Navy Submarine Escape and Rescue (SMER) organization, Italian Navy

Lars Appelström
Solutions Manager, ABB

Vice Admiral Simon Asquith
Chief of Staff to Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, NATO ACT

Mark Lawther
Business Development Executive, SEA

Rear Admiral Mark Behning
Acting Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting and Capabilities, US Navy

Commander Sungmin Jung
Acquisition officer, ROK Navy

Captain Des Hirons OBE RN
Deputy Director RNMDA, Royal Navy

Maryna Hrytsenko
Co-Founder & Executive Director, Snake Island Institute

Captain David Downie
Senior Responsible Owner – Blacker and FMDG USV (H), Royal Navy

Lars Wischnewksi
Vice President Sales & Products, Gabler Group AG

Peter Hakala
Business Area Naval, FORCIT Defence

Charles Newhouse
Leidos UK & Europe


Colonel Tan Say Yong
Director, RSN Shipbuilding Group, Republic of Singapore Navy

Richard Mills
Chief Commercial Officer, Cellula Robotics

Jason Reid
Vice-President, Business Development, DAVIE

Nati Atias
Senior Director of Business Development, Plasan

Jeroen van Stappen
Naval Systems Architect, NL COMMIT

Tim Anderson
Director of SaaS, Government at Terradepth

Captain Łukasz Szmigiel
Commander of the Submarine Squadron of the 3rd Ship Flotilla, Polish Navy

Dr Chris Mallinson
Principle Consultant, Frazer Nash Consultancy

Per Espen Hagen
Product Line Manager Long Range AUVs, Kongsberg

John Weale, CB, OBE
Chairperson & Head of Customer Relations, TKMS ATLAS UK

David Paul
Associate Client Director Royal Navy Key Account, Frazer Nash
Dan Toerner
Technical Sales Engineer, Bardex