DSEi Day 1

Welcome to Defence Systems & Equipment International 2009 show blog, or DSEi 2009. DSEi 2009 is one of the largest land, sea and air shows that happens every two years, usually on the odd number years. Throughout the week thousands of industry experts, military leadership and visitors will descend on the ExCel centre in London to partake in the event. The show draws many militaries from Europe, Africa, Eastern Europe and beyond. ITT is again exhibiting as one company at DSEi and Night Vision is a part of that initiative. This week Mike LoDebole, Director, international marketing, Ron Davis and Frank Loftus, both international marketing managers, will have a busy week filled with meetings and media interviews.

Cityscape at dusk

The kick off for DSEi began last night at a press dinner hosted by ITT. Mike LoDebole and I attended the event, which was held at the historical Tower Bridge that crosses Thames River. The elevators, or lifts as they are called in England, were conveniently out of service, so we had to hike up 318 steps to the top. You could say we earned our meal last night! The climb to the top took your breath away, but the view from the top of the Tower Bridge is striking at sunset and worth the hike up the steps. A total of 15 international journalists from publications such as Defense News, Jane’s, Shephard’s, Aviation Week, National Defense and the London-based newspaper The Telegraph attended the press dinner as well as ITT spokesperson. The setting was very casual and everyone sipped on their signature ITTini’s as we mingled throughout the night discussing topics from night vision, counter IEDs, submarines and unusual town names.

David Albritton welcomes guests

Bruce Scott speaks with journalists at dinner Monday night

After a successful dinner and discussion with journalists, we were prepared to begin the first day of DSEi 2009. We left for the show at 7: 30 AM, and I have to say I was fully prepared to sit in traffic in London for at least an hour but London traffic is not as congested as Paris. We made it in time for the all hands ITT pre-show meeting with Bruce Scott and David Albritton discussing the importance of the international community to ITT. It was a good thing we got to the show early because we heard stories of folks standing in line for two or three hours in the London sun. You might think that it would not be as hot in London compared to some other places, but today was unusually warm for this time of year. The heat was also a compliant on the show floor because the air conditioning in the ExCel Centre wasn’t producing much cool air.

After the ITT pre show meeting, ITT was the lead off speaker for the DSEi Innovation Showcase. Bruce Scott presented ITT’s innovated solutions for the battlefield. The presentation discussed technology advancements for communication systems, counter IEDs, electronic systems, space, ADS-B and night vision systems. In his presentation, Bruce highlighted the progression of night vision technology from Generation 2 to Generation 3, our advancements with the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle (ENVG) to the future of night vision technology with ENVG (D). Throughout the day, the ITT Night Vision crew attended meetings with the United Kingdom MoD, Poland and international marketing representatives. Mike and I met with Mike Gething, a journalist from Jane’s who writes for their electro-optics publication to discuss the night vision story.

With day one under our belt, we are prepared for day 2 of DSEi 2009 and hopefully with air conditioning.

Until tomorrow,

Mary Dudley

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