Sean Bittick has 18 years of military experience in the US Air Force and is an Innovation and Technology Adoption (formerly C-UAS and Capability Development) officer at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. He contributes to the management of the Defense Against Terrorism Program of Work (DAT POW) and serves as Secretary for the Joint Capability Group C-UAS, liaising with internal and external C-UAS stakeholders.

Lieutenant General Bruno Hofbauer has held several senior leadership positions within the Federal Ministry of Defence. He headed the General Staff Division, became Director of the Directorate for Fundamental Planning in 2017, and was appointed Chief of Planning of the Austrian Armed Forces in 2021. Since 2023, he has served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

Jozef Hrabina is a geopolitical risk consultant and the founder of GeopoLytics, a consultancy firm dedicated to navigating the intricate dynamics of global and regional politics. With experience in academia and consultancy across Kyiv, Moscow, Canada and the European Union, Jozef brings extensive expertise from the post-Soviet space, strategic security studies, and geoeconomics. Since 2022, Jozef has had multiple opportunities to survey the entire Ukrainian frontline.

Josef Kranawetvogl is a graduate of the 17th General Staff/Admiral Staff Course of the German Armed Forces. Most recently, he served at the Federal Ministry of Defence with responsibility for space security and oversaw civil-military cooperation between the Bundeswehr Space Command and the German Space Agency at DLR. Since 2024, he has been serving as Senior Vice President at Stark.

Stephan Kraschansky is a former officer and counter-drone specialist with the Austrian Armed Forces. After leaving the military, he became Managing Director and owner of the Austrian branch of Aaronia, an internationally active specialist in drone detection systems. Today, he is regarded as one of Europe’s leading experts in counter-UAS technologies.

Mark Pfeiffer is Head of Business Development for Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic at Shield AI. The US-based defence and aerospace company is considered one of the most innovative providers of AI-enabled defence technologies, developing autonomous aircraft and effectors, AI-based „combat pilots“, and software solutions for military operations.

Major General Gerfried Promberger serves as Commander of the Austrian Air Force and Air Chief of the Austrian Armed Forces. He is a graduate of the 16th General Staff Course, completed the US Air War College with distinction, and was inducted into the „International Honor Roll“ by the former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General David W. Allvin.

Colonel Markus Reisner is a historian and legal scholar and serves as Head of the Institute for Basic Officer Training at the Theresian Military Academy. His academic work focuses, among other topics, on the employment of drones in modern warfare.

Andreas Rupprecht is a long-standing analyst and internationally recognized expert on Chinese military aviation, as well as the author of numerous books published by Harpia Publishing. His areas of expertise include the analysis and assessment of the latest developments, the different variants of current aircraft types and their numerical distribution within operational units, as well as the compilation of orders of battle (ORBATs).

Klaudia Tanner has served as Austria’s Federal Minister of Defence since 7 January 2020. Her tenure has been marked by an unprecedented modernization phase of the Austrian Armed Forces. Under the framework of the so-called „Development Plan 2032+“, Austria’s military is being rebuilt to restore full defence capabilities – including the expansion of drone and counter-drone capacities.

Lieutenant General Harald Vodosek serves as the National Armaments Director of the Austrian Armed Forces and heads Directorate 5 – Armaments. In this role, he oversees the strategic planning and execution of major procurement programmes, including the comprehensive introduction of unmanned systems and counter-unmanned capabilities across Austria’s armed forces.