role: Guest

Apr 1981
Joined JDA

Jul 1999
Director, Operations Division,
Bureau of Operations

May 2001
Cabinet Counselor, Cabinet Affairs Office

Aug 2004
Cabinet Counselor under the Assistant Chief
Cabinet Secretary for National Security and Crisis Management

Aug 2006
Director, Administrative Coordination Division

Sep 2007
Defense Councilor

Aug 2009
Deputy Director General, Bureau of Defense Policy

Sep 2012
Director General, Bureau of Operational Policy

Jul 2013
Director General, Minister’s Secretariat

Jul 2014
Director General, Bureau of Defense Policy

Oct 2015
Administrative Vice-Minister of Defense

Jul 2017
Retired MOD

Oct 2017
Special Advisor to the NSS (Retired May 2020)

Jan 2018
Present Position

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Koichi Isobe is a Strategic Advisor to Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. He served as a senior fellow at Harvard Asia Center as well as Asia Pacific Initiative.

LTG Isobe retired from active duty in August 2015 after a thirty-five-year career in the Japan Self-Defense Force, having served in his last two years as Commanding General of the Eastern Army of the Ground SDF. Prior to this final appointment, he held several other senior positions in Japan’s defense institutions, such as Director of J-5, Joint Staff, Commanding General of 7th Armored Division, as well as Vice Chief of Joint Staff.

LTG Isobe graduated from the National Defense Academy (with a major in International Relations) in 1980, and from the Command & General Staff College in 1989. He also obtained a Master of Arts in Military Studies from the Marine Corps University in 1996, and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University in 2003.

Dr. MISHIMA Shigenori is the Deputy Commissioner and Chief Defense Scientist of Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA), Ministry of Defense (MOD) Japan, since April 2020. He is responsible for research & development activities for the Self-Defense Forces, international equipment and technology cooperation, and enhancing collaboration among relevant ministries, industry, and academia in the area of advanced technology.

Dr. Mishima joined the Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI), Japan Defense Agency (JDA) in 1988, where he conducted research on the propulsive performance of an advanced high speed boat and participated in the development of the Flow Noise Simulator, one of the world’ s largest and most quiet variable pressure water tunnel facilities. He then led the SM-3 Block IIA Japan – U.S. cooperative development project as the Japanese Technical Authority.

After ATLA was established in 2015, Dr. Mishima’s first assignment was the director of Project Management Division (Naval Ships). In this role, he addressed the challenge of strengthening shipbuilding industrial base for the Maritime Self-Defense Force, resulting in the new acquisition model for the new destroyer, designated as an FFM. He then served as the director of Department of Technology Strategy. In this capacity, he promoted the measures to realize the policy goals, such as ensuring Japan’s technological superiority and delivering advanced equipment in an effective and efficient manner, as described in the “Defense Technology Strategy” issued in 2016. Also, he played a major role in developing the most recent version of “Research and Development Vision” in order to enhance technological basis, as emphasized in the new “National Defense Program Guidelines” and the “Medium Term Defense Program” issued in December, 2018. He also promoted international equipment and technology cooperation with the US, the UK, Australia, France, India, and so on. In addition, he expanded “Innovative Science & Technology Initiative for Security” and strengthened collaboration with relevant ministries, agencies, industry, and academia in the area of advanced technology in order to utilize cutting-edge dual-use technology.

EDUCATION
March 1986, Bachelor of Science in Naval Architecture, The University of Tokyo
March 1988, Master of Science in Naval Architecture, The University of Tokyo
September 1996, Ph.D. in Hydrodynamics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS
1. September 2003 – August 2005, Chief, Naval Ship Systems Research Section, 4th Division,
1st Research Center, TRDI, JDA
2. April 2009 – March 2012, Head, Sea-based Guided Weapon Systems Development Section,
Department of Guided Weapon Systems Development, TRDI, MOD
3. April 2012 – May 2014, Head, Program Development Division, TRDI, MOD
4. June 2014 – September 2015, Director, Weapons and Warships Division, Bureau of Finance
and Equipment, MOD
5. October 2015 – March 2017, Director, Project Management Division (Naval Ships), ATLA
6. April 2017 – March 2020, Director General, Department of Technology Strategy, ATLA
7. April 2020 – present, Deputy Commissioner and Chief Defense Scientist, ATLA

Major General (retired) Philippe Montocchio serves as the Deputy Director and Chief of Staff, NATO STO Collaboration Support Office (CSO) in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, since 1 January 2019. The CSO is the executive office of the NATO Science & Technology Organization (STO) responsible for coordinating, synchronizing and supporting defence and security science & technology (S&T) activities between NATO member and partner Nations, comprising a network of about 5000 scientists.

General Montocchio is a retired (Air Force) Major General with a 38-years active military service career.  He started his operational career as a French Air Force fighter pilot, flying the Air Defence Mirage 2000 fighter jet. He also accomplished a three-year Exchange Officer tour in the US Air Force, in Arizona, as an F-16 C/D Instructor Pilot. During his operational flying career, he logged more than 2700 flying hours, mainly on Mirage 2000 and F-16, and flew more than 60 combat missions over the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa.

He was then appointed Defence Attaché to the French Embassy in Greece before fulfilling different staff and commanding positions in the French Air Force, in the French Armed Forces and in the French Ministry of Defence.   In particular, he was Head of the NATO Office, then Head of the Euro-Atlantic (NATO & EU) Department in the Delegation for Strategic Affairs, French Ministry of Defence. Later, he was the Chief of Staff of the French Air Defence & Air Operations Command, and Joint Forces Air Component Command (JFACC) Commander, directing the Air Operations over Africa (Sahel and Central Africa operations).  He was the General Officer commanding the French Forces stationed in Djibouti, Horn of Africa, for two years.   He retired in August 2018 as General Officer in charge of the international cooperation of the French Armed Forces, French Joint Staff Headquarters, Paris.

General Montocchio is Commander of the National Order of Merit and Officer of the Legion of Honour. He received the Cross for Military Valour, the French Former-Yugoslavia Commemoration Medal, the NATO Former-Yugoslavia Commemoration Medal, the French Overseas Medal for Middle East Operations and the Medal of Aeronautics. He is also Commander of the Djibouti Great Star Order.

General Montocchio graduated from the French Air Force Academy and the French Armed Forces War College. He earns a Master’s Degree in aeronautical sciences. He speaks French, English, Spanish and has some notion of modern Greek.

General Montocchio is married to Valérie and they have three grown up daughters.  He is interested in diving, snowshoeing, painting, cooking and interacting with other cultures.

For three years, Dr. Will Roper served as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. In this role, he led all research, development, procurement, and logistics for both the U.S. Air Force and Space Force: an annual budget totaling $60 billion. But he is best known for accelerating acquisition timelines and fostering disruptive innovation inside of government.

While at the Air Force, Will took large strides in opening defense market opportunities to commercial companies, spearheading initiatives like AFWERX and Small Business Innovative Research reform that connected 2,300 tech companies with military problems and associated contracts. He also led Department-wide technology transformations for software, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital engineering and initiated high-tech programs for hypersonic weapons, autonomous drones, advanced satellites and rockets, and a militarized internet of things (IoT), all while overseeing the day-to-day readiness of over 5,300 military aircraft and satellites. 

Prior to departing the Air Force, he demonstrated the first use of AI on a military weapon system (the U-2 spy plane) and first IoT kill chain, downing a cruise missile with inexpensive artillery. He also led the turnaround of the troubled KC-46 tanker program by redesigning its critical 3D vision system. But in addition to technology, Will was equally passionate about competing for talent, updating 50-year-old body standards for all Air Force programs to increase accessibility for women and people of color to pursue military careers.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Roper was the founding Director of the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), growing this once-classified innovation office from $50 million to $1.6 billion annually. Solving the military’s most pressing problems, his programs spanned concepts like artillery-based missile defense, multi-domain missiles, smartphone-navigating weapons, big-data-enabled sensing, standoff arsenal planes, autonomous wingmen, and swarming drones—including the world’s largest drone swarm demonstration in 2017. During his tenure as Director, he transitioned over three fourths of SCO’s programs into military programs and served as the Principal Staff Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for disruption and innovation.

Will has a bachelor’s and master’s in physics from Georgia Tech and a doctorate in mathematics from Oxford, where he studied string theory as a Rhodes Scholar.

Makio Miyagawa sensei has held successive positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Legal Desk Chief, Deputy Director of the US-Japan Trade Division and of the Russian Division, Director within the Economic Affairs Bureau and Asia Oceanian Bureau, Deputy DG (Director-General) of Climate Change Negotiations, DG of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and DG of Middle East and North Africa.

He served in the Japanese embassies in the UK and Malaysia, and in the Japanese Mission in Geneva. Currently, he holds the position of Special Advisor on National Security, NSS, within the Cabinet Bureau of Japan. He received a D.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University, and a BSc in Aeronautical and Spacecraft Engineering from the University of Tokyo.

He has lectured at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and at the University of Tokyo and has served as Director of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA). He has published numerous books and articles, including “Do Economic Sanctions Work?” He received the distinction of Commandeur de L’Ordre National du Mérite (Commandeur) from the Republic of France.

Currently he is President of the Asia Pacific Initiative Forum and serves as Senior Advisor to the government of Japan’s National Security Secretariat.

Dr. Scott N. Pace is the Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary of the National Space Council (NSpC).  He joined the NSpC in August 2017.  From 2008-2017, he was the Director of the Space Policy Institute and a Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.  From 2005-2008, he served as the Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation at NASA.  Prior to NASA, he was the Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. 

From 1993-2000, he worked for the RAND Corporation’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, and from 1990-1993, he served as the Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Office of Space Commerce, in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce.  In 1980, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Harvey Mudd College; in 1982, Masters degrees in Aeronautics & Astronautics and Technology & Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and in 1989, a Doctorate in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School. 

Norihiro Sakamoto was born in Yazu,Tottori Prefecture in 1953. He is a leading space policy analyst in Japan. Specializes in the Global Commons (space / aviation, ocean, cyber), which is the backbone of national security strategies.

1976: Joined Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company (MODEC)
1988: Nissan Motor (design of space and defense solid rocket)
1999: The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (General Manager of Engineering Department / Recommendations for Basic Space Law, Space Activity Law, etc.)
2000: Transferred from Nissan Motor to Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI)
2011: Tokyo Foundation (Research Fellow / Space, Ocean, Security Policy)
2013: Liberal Democratic Party (Researcher / involved in the party’s space and aviation policy proposals)
2019: Established New Space International Institute for Strategic Studies (Chairman)

Sakamoto is currently serving in various senior positions: Chairman of the New Space International Strategy Research Institute; Representative of the Global Commons Research Institute GK; Visiting Researcher of the Defense Technology Foundation, and a Visiting Professor of Wakayama University.

He is also author of the book, “Introduction to New Space Strategy – Future Blueprint of Global Common”.

Hiroshi Yamakawa was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1965. He received master’s degree of engineering in 1990 and earned Ph. D from the Department of Aeronautics, School of Engineering in 1993 both from the University of Tokyo.

He became a research associate and an associate professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in 1993-2003, and an associate professor at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2003-2006. He engaged in mission design of numerous Earth-orbiting scientific satellite projects as well as in lunar and interplanetary missions. He also engaged in the navigation, guidance, and control systems of the solid propellant rocket, M-V, and liquid propellant reusable sounding rocket, RVT. He was a study manager and a project manager of the Euro-Japan collaborative mission to Mercury “BepiColombo” from 2000 through 2006. He was a visiting scientist at NASA JPL in 1997-1998 and at ESA ESTEC in 2002.

He moved to Kyoto University in 2006 as a professor of the Research Institute of Sustainable Humanosphere, a professor of the Graduate School of Engineering (cooperating chair) and a deputy director of the Unit for Synergetic Studies of Space. His academic interest lay in orbital mechanics, trajectory optimization, space propulsion, and space situational awareness.

He was appointed as secretary general at the Secretariat of Strategic Headquarters for Space Policy, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of Japan in 2010 through 2012. Then, he was assigned member of the Committee on National Space Policy, Cabinet Office from 2012 through 2018.

He was appointed as the President of JAXA in April 2018

Sir Brian Burridge was appointed as Chief Executive of the Royal Aeronautical Society from 1 October 2018. The Royal Aeronautical Society is the world’s only professional body dedicated to the entire aerospace community. Established in 1866, the Society is the steward of the aerospace body of knowledge, promotes the highest professional standards in aerospace disciplines and plays a central role in the STEM agenda.

Previously, Sir Brian was an independent consultant having spent the 10 years up to 2006 with Leonardo, a top ten global high-tech manufacturer in the aerospace, defence and technology sectors, rising to the position of Senior Vice President. During that time, he chaired two of the Group’s businesses and held board positions in the trade association, ADS, and the Defence Growth Partnership where he also chaired its innovation hub.

Earlier, Sir Brian spent a full career as a pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF) holding a frontline command at every level in the Service, including the national joint command in the 2003 Iraq war. He also spent a number of years in the UK Ministry of Defence in policy posts and left the RAF in 2006 as Commander-in-Chief Strike Command.

Sir Brian read physics and electronic engineering at Manchester University and holds an MBA from the Open University and two honorary doctorates. He was previously a research fellow in political science at King’s College London and is now a visiting professor at the University of Reading.