Rob Solly

Biography

Rob Solly was appointed Head of Defence and Security Analysis Division in March 2015.

Rob joined Dstl’s predecessor, the Defence Research Agency, in 1992. He has:

  • Led projects, teams and groups that shaped the design of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and directly influenced the UK Government’s decisions to invest billions of pounds in the UK’s future combat air capability
  • Worked on secondment at MOD and the Pentagon to lead analysis that shaped defence strategy in the 2010 and 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Reviews, the 2011 Defence Reform Review; and the US DOD’s 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review
  • Led an initiative for MOD’s Permanent Secretary from 2011 to improve the use of analysis and evidence across the MOD
  • Launched the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) in 2016 to fast track the exploitation of defence technology

Rob graduated in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Southampton, is a Fellow of the Operational Research Society and was previously a Dstl Consulting Senior Fellow.

*[US DOD] United States Department of Defense