THIS EVENT TOOK PLACE IN FEBRUARY 2025.
About
From February 12-14, 2025, the Pacific Forum hosted Honolulu Defense Forum (HDF) 2025. Designed as an annual event in Honolulu, this year’s conference focused on leveraging geography, private-public partnerships, and the power of alliances and partnerships to strengthen resilience and enhance deterrence.
It discussed how this community can collectively innovate and prioritize efforts to recapitalize and position U.S. and allied capabilities forward in the Indo-Pacific theater and compete vigorously against strategic threats today. It built on the themes of last year’s conference— developing a shared narrative and sense of urgency regarding the security environment, promoting the need for enhanced capacity and capability among our allies and partners, and outlining the challenges and solutions for greater integration—this year’s event identified actionable priorities for operationalizing U.S. and allied capabilities
Themes
Operationalizing Urgency: What are the immediate actions and critical fixes needed to enhance readiness and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific?
Building and Sustaining Integrated Defense Capabilities: What is required to operationalize sustainment networks in the Indo-Pacific for deterrence and military operations and how do we leverage industry expertise and collaboration with allies to enhance logistical support and ensure strategic posturing?
Harnessing Critical Technologies at Scale: What critical technologies do we need to prioritize in high-intensity scenarios and how do we quickly integrate enabling technologies across defense systems and applications to advance information sharing and operations?
Driving Innovation and Competitiveness in Security Initiatives: What does optimal collaboration among industry, venture capital, and government look like to innovate and invest in security initiatives that address evolving threats and emerging opportunities in the region?
Building a Robust Industrial Base: What collaborative approaches will further enhance cooperation in defense procurement, industrial capacity, and supply chain resilience as well as bring opportunities for co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment with allies and partners?
Promoting Regional Security: Do our policies, resources, and operational planning align effectively to promote our regional security interests in the Indo-Pacific region? What more can the U.S. and its allies and partners do to reinforce security, promote a rules based international order, deter conflict and support each other against regional threats? How do we bring attention to, and combat, malign behavior and influence in the Indo-Pacific region?
Conference Highlights
Opening Reception
12 Feb 2025
Ms Kim Lehn, Senior Director, Pacific Forum delivers an opening address.
ADM Samuel Paparo, Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, delivers the keynote address.
Pacific Forum President, Mr. David Santoro, delivers welcome remarks and introduces key note speaker.
President Emeritus, Mr. Bob Girrer, introduces special panelists for the Discussion on the State of the World, the Convergence of Theaters, and the Indo-Pacific.
The Honorable William “Mac” Thornberry
Former Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
Admiral Phil Davidson, USN (Ret.)
25th Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
HDF Conference
13 Feb 2025
Ms Kim Lehn delivers the opening and welcome remarks at the Honolulu Defense Forum.
Mr David Santoro introduces keynote speaker.
Admiral Samuel Paparo, USN, Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command delivers keynote speech.
The Security Environment and Critical Missions Panel
Major General (Ret) Suzy Vares-Lum, Director, APCSS
Ms Stefanie Beck Deputy Minister of National Defence of Canada
Senior Undersecretary Irineo Espino, Department of National Defense of Philippines
Vice Admiral Justin Jones, Chief of Joint Operations, Australian Defence Force,
Vice Admiral Blake Converse, Deputy Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet
The Information Challenge Panel
Lieutenant General Joshua Rudd, USA, Deputy Commander,
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Ms. Cathy Johnston, Vice President C6ISR, Peraton
Ms. Nini Hamrick, President, Vannevar Labs
Dr. Hideto Tomabechi, President and CEO, Cognitive Research Labs, Inc., Japan
Major General Neil Richardson, USAF, Deputy Director for Operations (J3),
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Contested Logistics and the Complexity of Operationalizing and Integrating Joint and Combined Logistics
Dr. Tom Mahnken, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
Brigadier General Martine Kidd, USA, Director for Logistics & Engineering (J4),
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Mr. Scott Farr, Executive Director, Business Development,
Contested Logistics Solutions, Boeing
Major General Gavin J. Gardner, USA, Commanding General,
8th Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army
Mr. Eugene Kim, Chairman, Korea Defense Industrial Association, Republic of Korea
Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR)
Ms. Jen Stewart, Executive Vice President for Strategy and Policy,
National Defense Industrial Association
Mr. David Nockels, First Assistant Secretary Defence Trade, Regulation and Industrial Collaboration, Australia Department of Defence
Ms. Sayako Sumomo, Director for International Cooperation, Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency, Japan Ministry of Defence
Mr. Jed Royal, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense
Air Superiority & Missile Defense: Status and Next Steps
Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, USN (Ret.), CCTI Senior Director and Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Brigadier General Patrick Costello, USA, 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command
Brigadier General Kenneth Todorov, USAF (Ret.), Sector Vice President and General Manager, Global Battle Management and Readiness, Northrop Grumman and former U.S. Deputy Director of the Missile Defense Agency
Dr. Vaidotas Urbelis, Defence Policy Director, Ministry of National Defence, Republic of Lithuania
Contested Logistics
Dr. Tom Mahnken, President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
Brigadier General Martine Kidd, USA, Director for Logistics & Engineering (J4),
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Colonel John Sattely, USMC (Ret.), Executive Director for Contested Logistics,
ManTech
Brigadier General Michael Zuhlsdorf, Director of Logistics, Engineering, and Force Protection, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces
Space Warfare and Sensor Integration
Mr. Tom Wilson, Corporate Vice President, Enterprise Advanced Programs and Capabilities, Northrop Grumman
Colonel Dave Washer, Director of Operations, U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific
Brigadier General Henrik Scholz, Chief of the Department for Development, Planning, and Innovation, German Air Force Headquarters
Mr. Hiroshi Koyama, Fellow, Defense & Space Systems Group,
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
The Honorable Kari Bingen, Director for Aerospace, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and former Principal Deputy Undersecretary
of Defense for Intelligence and Security
Europe’s Role in the Indo-Pacific
Commodore (Ret.) Pete Olive, United Kingdom Royal Navy and Senior Fellow, Pacific Forum
Brigadier General Emmanuel Boiteau, Commander of the French Liaison Team and Senior Representative to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Ms. Heather Fortuna Bush, Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton
Major General Stefan Schulz, Deputy Head of the Political Department, Federal Ministry of Defence, Germany
Integration and Interoperability
Mr. Markus Garlauskas, Director for Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, Atlantic Council
Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, USA (Ret.), former Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
General Charles Flynn, USA (Ret.), former Commander, U.S. Army Pacific
HDF Conference
14 Feb 2025
Industry and Investment to Compete in the Indo-Pacific
Mr. Demetri Sevastopulo, Correspondent, Financial Times
Mr. Mike Brown, Partner, Shield Capital
Mr. Alexander Benard, Co-Head of Cerberus Frontier and Senior Managing Director, Cerberus (Singapore)
Mr. A.J. Bartone, Managing Partner, In-Q-Tel
Information Sharing Networks and Data
The Hon Kari Bingen, Director for Aerospace, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and former Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security
Colonel Michael Hlad, C4 Operations Division Chief for Command, Control, Communications and Cyber, (J63), U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Rear Admiral Ian Murray, Head of Australian Defence Staff
Mr. Aki Jain, CTO & President, U.S. Government Business, Palantir
Mr. Keith Johnson, Director, Department of Defense Solutions Architecture,
Amazon Web Services
Maximizing Critical and Enabling Technologies
Ms. Whitney McNamara, Senior Vice President, Beacon Global Strategies
Mr. Robert (Bob) Stephenson, Director for Requirements and Resources (J8)
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Mr. Tyler Sweatt, Chief Executive Officer, Second Front Systems
Mr. Mark Newton, Defence Minister (Director USA), Embassy of the United Kingdom
Mr. Ed Barnabas, Vice President and Chief Technologist for Booz Allen Hamilton
View from Congress on Defense Technology Innovation
Mr. Ralph Cossa, Chairman, Pacific Forum
Congressman Don Bacon (R-NE), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation (CITI), U.S. House Armed Services Committee
Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY), Vice-Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee
Building the Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Network
Dr. John Hemmings, Professor, DKI APCSS College of Security Studies
Mr. Jeffrey Frankston, Director of Policy, Analysis and Transition, Office of Industrial Base Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
The Hon Katie Wheelbarger, Vice President for Global Program Support, Lockheed Martin and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Affairs
Dr. Huntley Wright, Assistant Secretary for Capability Delivery, New Zealand
Resiliency Needs for High-Risk Scenarios
Ambassador James Moriarty (Ret.), former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan
Mr. Dan Blumenthal, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Mr. Jakub Janda, Director, European Values Center for Security Policy
Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, USN (Ret.), CCTI Senior Director and Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Mr. Lichen Pursley, Director INDOPACOM, General Atomics-ASI
Nuclear Weapons and Extended Deterrence
Mr. Markus Garlauskas, Director Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, Atlantic Council
Major General John Edwards, Director of Global Power Programs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
Mr. Erik Quam, Director, China Strategic Focus Group, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Dr. Brad Roberts, Director, Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Mr. Drew Walter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters, Department of Defense
Economic Statecraft and Strategies
Mr. James Corera, Director Cyber Technology and Security, Australia Strategic Policy Institute
Ms. Raquel Garbers, Visiting Executive,
Centre for International Governance Innovation, Canada
Mr. Brad Glosserman, Deputy Director of and Visiting Professor, Tama University
The Hon Michael Schiffer, former Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Asia, U.S. Agency for International Development
Cosing Keynote Fireside Chat
Mr. Eric Sayers, Pacific Forum Board Member
Admiral Harry Harris, USN (Ret.), 24th Commander U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and former Ambassador to the Republic of Korea
The Honorable Randy Schriver, former Assistant Secretary for Indo-Pacific and Security Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense
The Honorable David Stilwell, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, U.S. State Department
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!
For questions or sponsorship inquiries for HDF 2026, please contact:
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Dates
February 12-14, 2025
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Location
Waikiki, Hawai'i