SiNAB has announced the appointment of Nick Mair as Head of Strategy & Partnerships and as a member of the SiNAB Advisory Board, alongside the appointment of Brigadier Mark Smethurst DSC, AM (Ret’d) as an Independent Advisory Board Member, reinforcing the company’s leadership depth as it enters its next phase of international growth.
As SiNAB expands into priority international markets, demand is increasing across Asia, Western and Eastern Europe and the Middle East for deployable airborne ISR, live threat representation and emerging Counter-UAS capability. Customers in these regions are actively seeking operationally credible solutions that can be fielded quickly, avoid platform acquisition and integrate through trusted partners. This environment aligns strongly with the experience, networks and operational familiarity that both Nick and Mark bring to the business.
Mair joins SiNAB in a newly created executive role, focused on shaping strategic direction, building global partnerships and accelerating the development of scalable airborne services. He also joins the SiNAB Advisory Board, providing strategic guidance as the business continues to grow internationally.
Smethurst’s appointment strengthens SiNAB’s independent advisory capability, bringing senior Defence leadership, governance and national security perspective to support the company’s expanding operational footprint.
Together, the appointments reflect SiNAB’s transition from technology development into scaled delivery, combining deployable mission systems, live airborne services and partner-led capability across global Defence markets.
Mair brings more than 30 years of aviation and aerospace leadership experience across complex, regulated environments, including publicly listed and private equity owned organisations operating asset-intensive fleets and international service models. Most recently, Mair served as Managing Director of QinetiQ Air Affairs, where he led the delivery of live crewed and uncrewed airborne capability to the Commonwealth of Australia and contributed to QinetiQ’s global threat representation portfolio. His career spans senior executive and commercial leadership roles across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. At SiNAB, Mair will lead strategy development, partnerships and market entry, with a focus on building deployable, cost-effective ISR, threat representation and Counter-UAS solutions in response to increasing global demand. His role bridges strategy and execution, working closely with customers, partners and the SiNAB leadership team to translate operational need into credible, fielded capability.
“SiNAB has developed a genuinely differentiated capability that delivers credible mission effects without the cost, complexity or timelines of traditional integration programs. As customers look for more flexible airborne ISR and training solutions, there is a significant opportunity to combine SiNAB’s technology with live services and strong partners globally. I look forward to supporting that growth, expanding partnerships and helping customers access new capability,” Mair said.
Smethurst joins SiNAB as an Independent Advisory Board Member, bringing more than 35 years of senior leadership experience across command, strategy and operational planning roles within the Australian Army, NATO and United States Special Operations environments. Following his military career, Smethurst has advised corporate and not-for-profit organisations on governance, strategy and performance, and continues to contribute to national security dialogue across government and industry. In his role at SiNAB, Smethurst will provide strategic guidance to the Board and executive team, with a focus on national security relevance and alignment between capability development and real-world operational requirements.
“SiNAB is addressing a genuine capability gap by enabling realistic training and operational effects using aircraft already in service. I look forward to supporting the team as they continue to translate innovative ideas into deployable, mission-relevant capability,” Smethurst said.
SiNAB’s growth is underpinned by its Phoenix range of airborne mission systems, enabling deployable intelligence, surveillance, targeting and communications effects without requiring aircraft modification or lengthy integration programs. As defence customers increasingly move toward distributed and platform-agnostic architectures, demand is growing for solutions that can be deployed quickly, scaled through partners and applied across ISR, Counter-UAS and threat representation missions. SiNAB supports this demand through a combination of proprietary technology and live operational services, leveraging a growing international partner network, including collaboration with RAVN Aerospace in the United States, to accelerate access to capability across key markets.
Tony Landers, Chief Executive Officer of SiNAB, said: “Nick and Mark bring complementary experience to SiNAB at a critical point in our growth. Nick’s appointment gives us dedicated leadership across strategy and partnerships as we scale internationally, while his contribution at Advisory Board level, alongside Mark’s insight, strengthens our alignment with Defence and national security priorities. Together, they reinforce our ambition to become a trusted global partner for airborne ISR and mission effects.”
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