From Concept to Readiness: Delivering Next-Generation Vertical Lift
International Military Helicopter remains the pre-eminent forum supporting vertical lift as a decisive enabler for the joint force, in any theatre, in any role, anywhere in the world
The prospect of peer warfighting demands helicopter platforms that are faster, more agile, better-protected, more lethal and better-networked than their predecessors. If rotorcraft are to offset the effects of A2/AD by deploying dispersed, they must integrate unmanned systems as force multipliers, field air-launched effects to deliver lethality without mass and plug into an agile joint network to retain situational awareness and C2 in a contested battlespace.
Deriving capability from these ambitious concepts is the focus of IMH 2021. Joining operational perspectives on every mission set - from air assault to reconnaissance to ASW - will be new technology-led sessions on MUM-T and air-launched effects. A focus too will be on delivering the industrial base and supply chain necessary to affordably and rapidly put capability into the hands of the warfighter. As new platforms come online, we must also rethink how to sustain them through-life to maximise availability.
It annually brings together more than 200 defence and industry leaders from more than 30 countries, with a military cohort comprising operators, acquisition leaders, capability development professionals and technical experts. It offers a three-day programme organised across three specific themes - Future Platforms, Future Operations and Future Availability - with sessions covering every topic: from MUM-T to survivability, from heavy lift to training.
5 Key Questions that were answered at IMH 2020:
- How will operational concepts and doctrine for vertical lift adapt to meet the demands of multi-domain operations?
- How will unmanned systems support future helicopter forces, and what are the limits of autonomy in the future air domain?
- How applicable is 'multi-role' as a concept for future helicopter design?
- Apart from autonomy, what are the other critical capabilities which will define next-generation platforms?
- How can we drive up availability and reduce downtime, and how can the MRO and logistics model be improved?
2021 Conference Chairman
- Lieutenant General (Retd.) Kenneth E. Tovo, Former Commander, US Army Special Operations Command, United States Army
2021 Speakers Include:
- Brigadier General David Sanford, Commander, DLA Aviation
- Rear Admiral Dato' Roslan bin Mohd Yunus Shoib, Assistant Chief of Staff Operation and Strategy, Royal Malaysian Navy
- Brigadier Steve Hussey, Head of Capability Air Manoeuvre, Army Headquarters
- Rear Admiral Paulo Renato Rohwer Santos, Commander, Naval Aviation, Brazilian Navy
- Brigadier General Walter Rugen, Director, Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, U.S. Army Futures Command
- Brigadier General Slawomir Makosa, Commander, 1st Army Aviation Brigade, Polish Armed Forces
- Commodore Nicholas Walker, Commodore Fleet Air Arm & Assistant Chief of Staff (Carrier Strike and Aviation), Royal Navy
- Brigadier General Rob Barrie, Program Executive Officer, Aviation, U.S. Army
- Brigadier John Omenda, Deputy Commander, Kenya Air Force
- Colonel Jack Perrin, Program Manager, PMA-261 H53 Heavy Lift Helicopters, U.S. Marine Corps
- Colonel Fernando Leitao, Head of the Planning Division, Portuguese Air Force
- Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Morales, Rotary Wing coordinator – Plans & Policy Division, Programmes Section, Spanish Air Force Staff
- Lieutenant Colonel Gianluca Spina, Head, Rotary Wing Section, Second Office – Logistics Department, Italian Air Force
- Michael Schäfer, Programme Manager, A400M and NH90/TIGER Programme Office, NATO Support and Procurement Agency
- Colonel James D. Hawthorne, Wing Commander, 12 Wing Shearwater, Royal Canadian Air Force
- Colonel Dimitar Pavlov, Deputy Commander of Flight Training, 24 Air Base, Bulgarian Air Force
- Jorge Van Hemelryck, Chief of the Strategy Office, Aeronautical Maintenance Directorate, French Ministry of the Armed Forces
- Major General Syed Najeeb Ahmed, Commander Aviation, Pakistan Army
- Colonel Paul Morris, Assistant Head Air Manoeuvre Plans, Capability Air Manoeuvre, Army Headquarters
- Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Dante Alvarez, Head, Control and Management Department, Training Command, Argentine Air Force HQ
- Lieutenant Colonel Tsvetomir Grakov, Head of Flight Training Standardization and Evaluation , 24 Air Base, Bulgarian Air Force
- Louis Wilson-Chalon, Military Marketing Manager, Leonardo
- Alex Tucker, Defence & Security Policy, Leonardo
- Penny McPherson, Marketing Director, Leonardo
