DEFENCE DECONSTRUCTED PODCAST

February 19, 2021

In this new episode of Defence Deconstructed, Tom Ring speaks to Joe DePietro, Tony Johns, and Michael MacMahon about what Canada can learn from other countries for the governance of the Canadian Surface Combatant project.

EPISODE NOTES

Participant Biographies:

• Joe DePietro serves as vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) Small Combatants and Ship Systems market segment. Mr. DePietro is an experienced program manager with more than two decades of ship construction and mission systems integration expertise. In his current position, he is responsible for the strategic, execution and sustainment activities for the domestic Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program and its international variant the Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC).
• Tony Johns is a highly experienced Shipyard Managing Director, Major Programme Director, and Government Procurement Director in very large, complex, maritime programmes. Tony has led the BAE Systems Submarines shipbuilding business with sales of over £1.5Bn per annum employing 8500 people in a demanding commercial and political environment, but also has long experience of government defence procurement having led the UK Royal Navy's Nuclear Propulsion Programme and the Attack Submarine Programme.
• Dr. Michael McMahon is a senior researcher in RAND’s defence acquisition, technology and maritime analysis team. He retired from the United States Navy as a Rear Admiral in 2011 as Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers and joined RAND in the National Security Research Division in Washington DC. McMahon was a surface warfare officer and engineering duty officer in the U.S. Navy for 32 years. Prior to achieving Flag rank, he was the U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Shipbuilding at Newport News, Virginia, where he supervised VIRGINIA class submarine construction, NIMITZ and FORD class nuclear aircraft carrier construction and refuelling, and nuclear submarine repair, modernization and overhaul.

Host Biographies:

• Tom Ring has nearly 40 years of federal government experience. Most recently, he served as Assistant Deputy Minister (Acquisitions) at Public Works and Government Services Canada, and Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs) at the Department of National Defence. While at PWGSC, he was responsible for all defence acquisitions and was the government’s lead negotiator on many complex procurement files. He is one of the architects of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, the Defence Procurement Strategy and the Smart Procurement initiative.
• Dave Perry (host): Senior Analyst and Vice President with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

This episode is made possible thanks to the Department of National Defence’s MINDS Program, Lockheed Martin Canada, General Dynamics, BAE Systems, and Saab.

This podcast is brought to you by Irving Shipbuilding. A strategic partner of the federal government’s National Shipbuilding Strategy, providing skilled, well-paying jobs that support Canada’s economic recovery.