Key People To Watch In The Defense Sector In 2024

Atherton is in position to shape the rotorcraft industry. To do so, she will have to execute development and delivery of the V-280 Valor to the U.S. Army. Bell will also be hoping to receive FAA approval for its 525 platform to make a strong showing in the rebounding offshore oil market.

Cardin assumed control of the committee after Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was indicted for allegedly accepting a car and gold bars in exchange for favors benefiting the Egyptian government. Although Cardin does not plan to run for reelection in the fall, he still has an opportunity to make his presence felt. At the top of the list: whether he will greenlight the sale of F-16s to Turkey and how that will affect the accession of Sweden into NATO.

In 2023, Hicks announced the start of the “Replicator” initiative to field thousands of uncrewed aircraft systems outside the typical Pentagon acquisition process. In 2024, the first full year of its execution, her plan will be put to the test.

Levy, who came up through the Israeli Air Force as an expert on guided weapons, has spent more than 30 years specializing in missiles and defense against missile systems. In October, the company’s Arrow system shot down a ballistic missile in combat for the first time, but it may not be the last, if fighting between Israel and Hamas continues or turns into a larger conflict.

Marles will be at the center of implementing the three-way agreement between the U.S., UK and Australia known as AUKUS, which is moving beyond an agreement to share technology that will allow for production of conventionally armed, nuclear-propelled submarines to include development of additional technologies such as hypersonic weapons. Marles is also in the process of building Australia’s defense industrial base and collaborating with the U.S. on programs such as Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft and Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat, a stealthy, multirole uncrewed aerial vehicle.

The CEO of Anduril is poised to move from startup to established vendor in the halls of the Pentagon and looking to disrupt market niches with limited supply sources. He has unveiled new reusable, jet-powered vertical-takeoff-and-landing uncrewed aircraft systems on the heels of buying Blue Force Technologies’ larger Fury UAS, which could compete for the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

Pistorius has begun moving forward on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s massive investments as well as clearing barriers and hurdles to manufacturing weapons at scale. This is not just to aid the war effort in Ukraine and stationing of troops in Lithuania, but also to build better diplomatic ties with India as a hedge against a rising China.

In addition to managing Ukrainian air power and air defenses in a major war, Oleshchuk has been assigned to reorganize the Ukrainian Air Force to integrate the incoming Lockheed Martin F-16s. The American-built fighters are expected to upgrade the services’ combat strength dramatically. At the same time, Oleshchuk will have to adapt to an aircraft designed to operate very differently from the Russian warplane inventory that Ukraine inherited after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

White will be the man in charge of overseeing one of the largest acquisition programs in years, the Next-Generation Air Dominance program to replace Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor. He will also be responsible for progressing other advanced uncrewed aircraft programs, managing the Air Force portfolio of legacy fighter aircraft and management of Foreign Military Sales of tactical aircraft.

If his nomination makes it past wrangling in the U.S. Senate, Whiting will lead the organization responsible for defending U.S. interests in space as well as operating systems that provide satellite communications, space domain awareness, and positioning, navigation and timing services.