NAVY TECH & Seabed Defence 2026 Speakers
Navy Tech & Seabed Defence consistently features a high-calibre speaker faculty, drawn from the forefront of naval technology, subsea security, operations, and capability development. The 2025 edition brought together senior naval leaders, programme managers, technical experts, and industry innovators from over 40 nations — all contributing to the global conversation on the future of maritime and undersea power.
Covering topics from digital transformation and uncrewed systems to platform survivability, cyber resilience, and the protection of critical seabed infrastructure, our speakers offer both strategic vision and technical depth.
The full list of speakers and the complete agenda for Navy Tech & Seabed Defence 2026 are now available, showcasing the key challenges, innovations, and emerging technologies shaping modern naval and subsea operations.

Dr Thomas W. Altshuler
Senior Vice President – Global Maritime Defense Strategy and Business Development,, Teledyne Marine

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

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

Captain Johann Eidesheim
Head of the Naval Air Office, Naval Staff – Plans/Programs, Head of the Naval Air Office, Naval Staff – Plans/Programs

Rear Admiral Carl Gillis
Strategic Advisor to the Chief of Navy, Belgian Navy

Professor João Sousa
Professor ECE Dept /Head of Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory, Porto University

Stefano Cioni
Project Officer Maritime Capabilities Support, European Defence Agency

Captain Tadas Jablonskis
Flotilla Commander, Lithuanian Navy

Rear Admiral Paddy McAlpine, CBE, RN (Rtd),
Senior Military Advisor, Thinklogical

Rear Admiral Tuomas Tiilikainen
Commander of the Navy, Finnish Navy

Commander Bagus Jatmiko
Head of Wargaming Center of the Indonesian Naval Command and Staff College, Indonesian Navy

Roger Johansson
Executive Vice President Business Area Marine & Offshore, Roxtec

Commander Tomas Anderson
Senior Staff Officer Plans and Structure, Royal Norwegian Navy

David Appelberg
Director, Marine Technology Centre of Sweden


Oleksandra Azarkhina
Head of Defence Industries Initiatives, Economic Security Council of Ukraine

Major General Tom Bateman CBE
Commander of Standing Joint Forces HQ, Standing Joint Forces HQ

Heiko Borchert
Co-Director, Defense AI Observatory, Bundeswehr University Hamburg

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Bovet-Emanuel
Researcher, Swedish Defence University

Bas Buchner
Director of Uncrewed Systems, Royal Netherlands Navy

Francis Celeste
Head of the Programme Division FSAF-PAAMS, OCCAR

Captain Nicolas Champs
Commanding Officer of French MPA Warfare Centre, French Navy

Commander Christian Couillault
Commander of the Norwegian Navy EOD Commandos, Norwegian Navy

Piotr Czopek
Deputy Director, Polish Wind Farm Association

Dan Danskin
Commercial Manager-DAS, Alcatel Submarine Networks

Rowan Davison
Government and Defence Sector Lead, EXA Infrastructure

Captain Alexander Dubnitzki
Division Head of Strategy and Policy, German Navy

Mr Terry Gibson
Director of MDARN, Royal Navy

Paula Harrison
Head of Government Security and Regulation, Vodafone

Andy Haslam
Director Business Development, PPM Systems

Lars Hedstrom
Director of Strategic Implications and Innovation Centre, Swedish Defence University

Will Higham
Director, PPM Systems

Commander Renauld Hock
Team Leader, Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) – European Commission

Bart Hollants
Chairman NATO Innovation, NATO Allied Command Transformation

Vice Admiral Krzysztof Jaworskis
Commander of the Polish Maritime Component Command, Polish Armed Forces

Henrik Jonsson
Deputy Director, Swedish Coastguard
Rear Admiral Søren Kjeldsen
Commander of the Danish Navy, Royal Danish Navy

Rear-Admiral, 2S (Ret.) Eric Lavault
RTsys Advisor, RTsys

Didier Lepine
Programme Manager, OCCAR

Andy Liddell
Head of Maritime Uncrewed and Offshore Assets, UK MoD DE&S

Rear Admiral Fredrik Linden
Head of Naval Systems, Swedish FMV

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

Dr Jens Mattsson
Director General, FOI

Konrad Mech
Director of Sales, Cellula Robotics

Paul Merchant
Capability Manager – Security of Navigation, Stabilisation Advice and Training, UKHO

Vice Admiral Steve Moorhouse
Fleet Commander, Royal Navy

Kimmo Nepola
Head of Unit, HVDC & FACTS, Fingrid

Rear Admiral Johan Norlen
Chief of Swedish Navy, Swedish Navy

Havar Oie
Senior Sales Director, Defence & Security, Maritime Robotics

Dr Torstein Olsmo Sæbø
Principle Scientist, Norwegian FFI

Captain Marko Petkovic
DCOS Ops, Swedish Navy

Commander Niels Pind
Commander of Naval Surveillance Unit, Royal Danish Navy

Lieutenant Colonel Tom Quinn
Commanding Officer 42 Commando, Royal Marines Commando

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

Colonel Matthew Robbins
Deputy CO USMC EU and AF, USMC

Johanna Rosenlind
Head of Directed Energy Department, FOI

Tobias Rutz
Head of Product Management Satellite Intelligence, Rohde & Schwarz International GmbH

Colonel David Saflind
Commander 1st Marine Regiment, Swedish Navy

Özlem Sayin
Project Manager, Turkish Secretariat of Defence Industries

Vice Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum
Chief of Joint Operations, Swedish Armed Forces

Nick Smart
Regional Security Manager – Europe, CIS & SSA, Shell

Marco Spaziano
Operational Leader Insidious Unmanned Vehicle, Drass Group

Vice Admiral (ret’d) Jan Thörnqvist
Former Chief of Joint Operations, Swedish Armed Forces

Carine van Bentum
Director of SeaSEC, SeaSEC

Martin van Duin
Senior Operational Requirements Analyst, NSPA

Commander Jeroen van Overloop
Advisor for North Sea and Maritime Security, Belgian Ministry of Mobility

Dr Francesco Viggiani
Head of Security, Telecom Italia Sparkle

Jason Weed
SVP Commercial Sales, OPT

Lieutenant General (ret’d) Hans Werner-Wiermann
Former Head of the NATO Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell, NATO

Dr Alison Weston
Senior Coordinator for Maritime Security and Deputy to the Director for Security and Defence Policy, European External Action Service

Captain Eike Wetters
Director, NATO CSW COE

Alasdair Wilkie
Chairman, Atlantic Cable Repair and Maintenance Agreement

John Wrottesley
Executive Director, European Subsea Cable Association

Casper Bosschaart
Lead Advisor Seabed Security, TNO

Adrian Boyle
CEO, Cathx Ocean

Lieutenant Michael Prutsch
Head of Commercial, Technical & Portfolio Development Global Defense & Security Lead, Skyborn

Lieutenant Commander Filipe Côrte-Real
Operational Logistics Department Head, Portuguese Marine Corp, Portuguese Navy
Captain Oki Genkai
Chief of Systems Programs Section, Systems Programs Division, Operations and Plans Department, Maritime Staff Office, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Forces

Dr Harald Hauschildt
Head, Strategic Programme Line on Optical and Quantum Communication – ScyLight

Lieutenant Colonel Raúl Hernández
Division Head Plans and Policies, Spanish Marine Corps, Spanish Navy

Dr Oliwia Mróz-Malik
Offshore Wind and Development Manager, Polish Wind Energy Association
Alberto Tremori PH.D
Scientist, NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE)

Hompe Heijmerink
Director Maritime Security and Surveillance (EUAF), Fugro
Linda Bama
Senior Project Officer, European Maritime Safety Agency

Mariusz Wolter
Head of Governmental Sales, Quantum Systems

Alan Anderson
Subsea Robotics Product Manager, Oceaneering

Wes Green
SVP Global Public Sector, Invisible Technologies

Eric Wirstrom
Vice President, Sales & Business Development, VideoRay Inc.

Hunter Brown
Sr. Director, Solutions Architect, VideoRay, Inc.

David Cunningham
Director Partnerships, Exail SAS

Thomas Mennerdahl
Group Technology Director, Reach Subsea
David M. Anderson
Chief Operating Officer, DSG Tec USA, Inc.
PRIVATE WORKSHOP HOSTS

Andy Euston
Solution Engineering Team lead (Public sector), Windward

Are Jørgensen
Senior Principal Engineer, DNV

Barış Bilgili
(Ret. Captain (N)), Aselsan

Boris Katsman
Head of Business Development & Marketing, Naval Warfare Systems Directorate, RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems

Captain (Navy, Ret.) Udi Erell
Naval Specialist, BlueWhale Team, IAI/ELTA Systems Ltd

Captain (Ret’d) Andrew Hertel
Sr. Director Navy Programs, Saildrone

Captain (Ret’d) Brian Connon
VP Ocean Mapping, Saildrone

Dennis Doan
Product Manager for EOD systems, Greensea IQ

Ed Hosking
Head of Futures and Concepts, Tekever

Edward Timpson
Chief Engineer Maritime, Helsing

Erwin Leys
Director GEOxyz & GEOdefensea, GEOxyz

Eyal Zohar
Head of Marketing & Biz. Dev., Naval Systems, IAI/ELTA Systems Ltd

Eyüp Emre Cabbaroğlu
(Ret. Captain (N)), Aselsan

Gabriel Horowitz
VP for International Governmental Sales, Windward

Hompe Heijmerink
Director Maritime Security and Surveillance (EUAF), Fugro

Idan Hazan
Co-Founder & CPO, Skana Robotics

Idan Levy
Co-Founder & CEO, Skana Robotics

Luis Mejia
Senior Solutions Manager, Greensea IQ

Mariah Kurtinaitis Joukes
Senior Engineer, DNV

Matt Osler
Senior Director Maritime Programmes, Helsing

Matthew Woody
Director of Defense & Intelligence, Saildrone

Noam Rabinovitch
Government & Public Sector PMM, Windward

Ole Johannsen
CSO Gabler Group and CEO, Develogic GmbH

Rear Admiral Carl Gillis
Strategic Advisor to the Chief of Navy, Belgian Navy

Tobias Rutz
Head of Product Management for R7S Satellite Monitoring Solutions, Rohde & Schwarz International GmbH