Episode description: How can NATO and its allies close capability gaps when technology iterates in weeks rather than decades? In this episode of Facing Coming Storms, Peter Apps is joined by John Ridge, Chief Adoption Officer of the NATO Innovation Fund. A former British Army Royal Engineers officer who served as Chief of Joint Force Operations before leaving in 2020, Ridge now works to get private-sector technologies into the hands of end users across the Alliance.
We explore the shift from traditional requirement-based procurement to problem-led adaptation, the lessons of Ukraine for iteration and operator-technologist proximity, the economics of the cost curve and the challenges of deterrence.
About the podcast: Facing Coming Storms is the new international defence podcast from the British Army’s Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research and the Project for the Study of the 21st Century. From confrontation to conflict, join us each Monday for insightful discussions, conversations and expert analysis. Facing Coming Storms is produced by Urban Podcasts.
