Global Operations and their Impact on Defence Strategy

Working directly for the UK Chief of Defence, DCDS(MSO) is responsible for: the provision of military advice to senior leadership across government; the development of UK military strategy and its integration with partners across government and allies; the commissioning of UK military operations at home and across the globe; and the leadership of MOD’s department for Strategy, Policy and Operations (SPO).

Born and educated in Northern Ireland, Smyth joined the RAF in 1991, as a Direct Entrant. After qualifying as a fighter pilot, he spent 15 years as a frontline Harrier pilot and weapons instructor. He has extensive combat experience having flown hundreds of operational missions from both land bases and aircraft carriers over: Bosnia; Kosovo; Serbia; Iraq; and Afghanistan.

In staff roles, Smyth has worked in the UK Air & Space Warfare Centre and spent 2 tours in the F-35 Lightning programme: the first as the Requirements Manager in MOD’s Directorate of Equipment Capability, and the second based in Washington DC as the UK’s F-35 National Director.

In 2013 Smyth retrained as a Tornado pilot and became the Station Commander of RAF Marham, delivering concurrent operations in Afghanistan, West Africa, Iraq and Syria, alongside transitioning the base for F-35 integration. On promotion to Air Commodore (1*) in 2015 he became the Tornado Force Commander, and in parallel, the UK’s first F-35 Lightning Force Commander. He followed this with a short appointment in the MOD as the 1* Head of Carrier Enabled Power Projection (CEPP), before deploying to Qatar as the Target Engagement Authority and Director of the 609th Combined Air and Space Operations Centre, responsible for the planning and authorisation of air & space missions at the height of the counter-ISIS campaign.

Promoted to Air Vice-Marshal (2*) in 2018, Smyth retrained as a Typhoon pilot and became Air Officer Commanding Number 1 Group (AOC 1Gp), where he was responsible for the Air Combat Group of the RAF. In 2020, Smyth then became UK MOD’s inaugural Director Space, establishing MOD’s Space Directorate, setting the foundation for establishment of the new UK Space Command, building the multi-billion-pound Defence Space Programme, and producing UK’s foundational National and Defence Space Strategies. He was also a sitting member of the PM-chaired National Space Council.

Smyth was promoted to Air Marshal (3*) in 2022 and appointed as the RAF’s Deputy Commander (Operations): this role transitioned to become the UK Air and Space Commander in 2023. As the RAF’s senior war fighter, working together with other Services and international operational commanders, he oversaw the generation and employment of air and space power, from hunting submarines under the oceans, via the totality of the air domain, to protecting UK Skynet 36,000km from Earth in Geosynchronous Orbit. Smyth became DCDS(MSO) in Mar 2024.

Married with 2 grown up daughters, Smyth’s interests beyond family and flying include: walking his two inexhaustible Springador dogs; rugby (once a flanker, now a spectator); completing charity fitness challenges; ‘reading’ Audible books; and the occasional Netflix ‘binge watch’. He is a Patron of the Jon Egging Trust (a charity supporting troubled teenagers), President of RAF Rugby, President of RAF Rowing, President of the RAF Small Arms Association, a Board Member of the Freeman Air and Space Institute, an ambassador for the RAF Charitable Trust, and a Patron of the International Bomber Command Centre. With strong links to Northern Ireland, Smyth is extremely proud to be Honorary Colonel for the 2nd Battalion (Northern Ireland) Army Cadet Force, Senior Mentor to the Northern Ireland Universities’ Air Squadron (NIUAS), and Patron of the Ulster Aviation Society, Ireland’s sole military aircraft museum.

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