Join the Freeman Air and Space Institute (FASI) for a roundtable discussion exploring the key outcomes and conclusions from the UK Government’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review.

Our expert FASI panellists will discuss the initial Air, Space and Nuclear implications of the review and will examine the ambitious, commitments and challenges set for the UK’s defence and national security.

The conversation will cover key topics from the SDR including: the ‘NATO First’ allegiance, ‘warfighting readiness’ and the critical national infrastructure required for this, space control, tactical nuclear deterrence and integrated air and missile defence.

Chaired by FASI Associate, Dr Maria Burczynska, the panel brings together leading experts on Air and Space Power, Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Defence Studies.

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Meet the panel:

Dr Sophy Antrobus, Co-Director of the Freeman Air and Space Institute

Dr Sophy Antrobus researches contemporary air power in the context of the institutional, cultural and organisational barriers to innovation and effectiveness in modern air forces, in particular the Royal Air Force. She joined the Freeman Air and Space Institute from Portsmouth Business School at the University of Portsmouth where she was a Teaching Fellow in Strategic Studies. She completed her PhD at the University of Exeter in 2019. Her thesis researched the early politics of air power and networks in Whitehall in the inter-war years.

Prior to her PhD, Sophy served in the Royal Air Force for twenty years including in Iraq and Afghanistan and a tour with the Royal Navy.

Dr Julia Balm, Research Associate at the Freeman Air and Space Institute

Julia Balm is a Research Associate at the Freeman Air and Space Institute in the School of Security Studies, King’s College London.

She researches contemporary space power with a particular focus on the needs and motivations of current and emerging space powers. She held the first fully-funded FASI studentship from 2020-2023 for a thesis building a theoretical framework for the New Space Age. The result of this research project is a space power theory that utilizes interdisciplinary methods. Julia has advocated for an interdisciplinary approach to the space domain, working across the House of Lords, Ministry of Defence, Secretary of State's Office for Net Assessments and Challenge, and the Defence Academy to deliver research on cross sector strategy and pan-governmental approaches to security challenges.

Professor Wyn Bowen, Head of the School of Security Studies & Co-Director of the Freeman Air and Space Institute

Currently serving as Head of the School of Security Studies, Wyn Bowen is Professor of Non-proliferation and International Security in the Department of War Studies and King’s lead for the Security and Defence PLuS (S&D+).  From 2014 he was Head of Department/Dean of Academic Studies of the Defence Studies Department, based at the Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) at the UK Defence Academy. Prior to April 2014, he was Director of the Centre for Science and Security Studies (2007-2014).

Dr Maria Burczynska, Lecturer in Defence Studies

Dr Maria E. Burczynska is a Lecturer in Defence Studies at the Defence Studies Department. She is based at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham. She is a member of the RAF Museum’s Research Advisory Board and an Advance HE Fellow. She is also an associate of the Freeman Air and Space Institute, and an editor for an online scholarly platform, From Balloons to Drones.

Dr David Jordan, Co-Director of the Freeman Air and Space Institute

Dr David Jordan is a Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies, based at the Defence Academy of the UK, and the Co-Director of the Freeman Air & Space Institute

David joined King’s in 2000, and has served variously as the Chair of the Exam Board, Director of Teaching, Academic Director for the RAF Division at the Defence Academy and as Air Warfare Historian to the Higher Command & Staff Course. He is currently the Academic Director (Air) for the Advanced Command & Staff Course.