NATS appoints former RN Commander to defence role

NATS, the UK’s leading air traffic solutions company, has appointed former Royal Navy Commander Ewan Kelbie to head up its defence department.

During his Royal Navy career, Ewan was a Sea Harrier pilot and second in command of 800 Squadron onboard HMS Invincible and based at Yeovilton, he was also Executive Officer on board HMS Boxer and Commanded HMS Argyll.

He joined the NATS Business Development team last autumn and has now been appointed to head up the company’s defence strategy team developing products for the military market in the UK and abroad.

Paul Reid

Paul Reid, Managing Director NATS Services, said: “In the short period that he has been at NATS Ewan has quickly established his credibility across the whole sphere of our defence capability and demonstrated his grasp on the challenges facing this part of our business.”

Ewan said: “I am delighted to have been appointed to this role with NATS.  I am looking forward to developing our relationship with the Ministry of Defence, one of our biggest customers, and to building new relationships with other defence customers internationally.”

Since leaving the Royal Navy Ewan has worked in Business Development roles at Lockheed Martin and Fujitsu Defence & Security.