NATO CUI Expert Confirmed As Seabed Defence Conference Chairman

A highly respected NATO expert specialising in critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) will be heading up Navy Leaders’ new Seabed Defence conference.

Navy Leaders is delighted to announce Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Wiermann, the former head of NATO’s Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell, has been confirmed as the chairman of Seabed Defence 2026 (SD26).

Confirming his involvement, Lt. Gen. Wierman remarked: “Safeguarding critical undersea infrastructure demands a united front. Whether military, industry, or private enterprise, our shared reliance on the seabed makes collaboration essential to resilience, deterrence, and long-term security.”

His first duty in his new role will be to chair the Seabed Defence roundtable discussion being staged on the middle day of Navy Leaders’ upcoming Combined Naval Event next month in Hampshire, U.K.

Attendance at this seminar, which will help shape the discussion topics and focus areas for SD26, will be by invitation only. If you want to be involved, details of how to apply are at the bottom of this article.

One of the newest additions to our naval events portfolio, SD26 is being staged alongside our successful Navy Tech System of Systems event.

Our inaugural SD26 event, which already has more than 35 speakers and 30-plus exhibitors confirmed, will be staged in Gothenburg on February 3-5. SD26 will bring together leaders from the maritime community and industry to explore both the range of growing threats and the innovative solutions seeking to tackle them.

Our programme will address the strategic importance of seabed defence, the need for multinational collaboration and policy development, and new ways of responding to seabed threats.

SD26 will encompass everything from ways of countering hybrid warfare tactics to the latest innovations in sensor technology and autonomous air, surface and underwater systems. If you want to know more, visit www.navyleaders.com/sd to get involved.

Lt. Gen. Wierman is a German Army officer who first joined the Bundeswehr in 1976. Working his way through the ranks and establishing a solid operational background, he also spent time working in the German Ministry of Defence, eventually rising to become Director of Security Policy in its Security Policy Directorate.

In 2015 he assumed the role of German Military Representative to NATO and the European Union and just under four years later he became NATO’s Director General, International Military Staff.

In February 2023, in the wake of the Nord Stream incident in the Baltic Sea, it was announced he would head up the newly created Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell at NATO Headquarters, tasked with bringing together civilian and military stakeholders and engaging with industry partners.

• The Seabed Defence Round Table at CNE is being held from 12.15pm to 1.45pm on Wednesday, May 21 in the Private Briefing Room at the CNE show at Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre. To register an interest in being invited, please email nicholas@defenceleaders.com