Admiral Sir George Zambellas on Maritime Innovation for Global Defense
Joanne Masters — April 19, 2017
Admiral (ret.) Sir George Zambellas, former First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, spoke with Defense & Aerospace Editor Vago Muradian at Sea-Air-Space 2017.
Key takeaways:
On reshaping the underwater domain
“It’s all about understanding the underwater domain. It’s a very expensive domain to dominate. Through technology innovation we are going to reduce the cost of the understanding of the underwater domain through small and innovative companies sharing data. This is why the advent of Unmanned Warrior last year and Information Warrior this year is all about reshaping the opportunity space for the use of data underwater.”
On maritime innovation and how the space is dramatically changing
“I think we’re on the head of a revolution, three parts to it really: massively increased computing speed, massively increased data management, and then the bringing together of those threads into a new understanding of the battle space, particularly the underwater domain.”
On the Royal Navy’s role in a post-Brexit world
“From a maritime perspective, I think it’s supporting commerce, diplomacy, our strategic security interests in partnership with our allies and friends around the world. And all of that falls naturally into the global opportunity which a post-Brexit world points us towards. But that requires the leadership to deliver it, it requires the resources to make it happen, and that’s part of a complex short-term and long-term journey we’re now on.”
