Functional Leadership Team
Robert Geckle
Robert A. Geckle, Jr. is Chief Executive Officer for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. In this capacity, he oversees the operations, activities and strategy of all Airbus US companies in the United States. Based in Arlington, Virginia, Airbus US provides the US Government Customer with fixed and rotary wing aircraft, homeland security systems, public safety communications, space systems, defense electronics and avionics, and threat detection systems. He previously served as SVP, Head of Airbus S.A.S Legal Affairs – Industry & Services, Europe, China and North America. In that capacity, he led a global team of lawyers and compliance professionals supporting Airbus’ industrial operations, including the Space and Defense activities in the United States. He previously served as VP and General Counsel of Airbus Group, Inc. supporting Airbus’ commercial aviation, rotorcraft and defense and space activities in the United States. Rob received his B.A. cum laude from Middlebury College and JD cum laude from Boston College Law School.
Mohamed Denden
Mohamed Denden is Chief Financial Officer for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. In this capacity, he manages the financial decision-making process and provides day-to-day oversight of efforts to meet the company’s financial targets and sustainably enhance corporate growth. Mohamed has been with Airbus in the United States and France for more than 14 years and possesses an extensive background in the aerospace and defense industry, including leadership roles in corporate finance, procurement, program control, internal audit, mergers and acquisitions, and investor relations. He was the Vice President of Procurement at Airbus Americas prior to joining Airbus U.S. Space & Defense. Before beginning his career at Airbus, Mohamed worked at Lockheed Martin, DRS Technologies, and Deloitte. He holds an MBA from the University of Central Florida, a CPA from the University of Maryland, and is fluent in the English, Arabic, French and Spanish languages.
Cara Sindir
Cara Sindir is Chief Operating Officer for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. Cara oversees daily operations, as well as creation and implementation of the company strategy. She previously served as Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy. Cara joined Airbus U.S in October 2019 after a decade with Airbus Defence & Space where she served as Chief of Staff and led teams in global strategy and marketing. Previously, Cara worked as an attorney and government relations specialist in Washington, DC. She holds a J.D. and master’s degree in international development from the University of Denver, and a B.S. from Duquesne University.
Gloria Sutton
Gloria Sutton is Chief Security and Facilities Management Officer for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. Gloria joined Airbus in March 2005 as the Assistant FSO after serving as the Junior Help Desk Engineer and Office Manager for Access Research Corporation. Gloria is responsible for Airbus U.S.’s industrial, information, physical, and personnel security and facilities management programs, including risk management, operations, policy, planning, staff education and communication, safety, disaster preparedness, maintenance of Airbus U.S. facilities and properties, and budget and resource management planning. Gloria is a graduate from Georgia College & State University with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology.
Alex Veneziano
Alex Veneziano is the Chief Administrative Officer for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. Alex provides leadership and management for the Legal, Ethics and Compliance, Information Security and Human Resources departments. He joined the company in September 2020 as Head of Business Operations and HR. He previously served as legal counsel at Airbus Americas, Inc., supporting Airbus’ commercial aviation business in the US. Alex received his B.A. from the University of Michigan and holds a J.D. and Masters Degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University.
Armen Askijian
Armen Askijian is the Chief Technology Officer and Head of Engineering for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense. Previously, Armen led satellite programs and design teams at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Airbus OneWeb Satellites, Google, and OneWeb. Armen was one of the primary designers for the Airbus OneWeb Gen1 satellite and its underlying modular platform (Arrow). He also led the design team for the OneWeb Generation 2 satellite constellation. At Airbus U.S., he focuses on design solutions for commercial and U.S. Government customers. Armen received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and Master’s of Science in Engineering Management from University of Santa Clara.
Russ Matijevich
Russ Matijevich is the Chief Innovation Officer for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. leading the strategy, business development, government relations, strategic communications, and marketing teams. Russ is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with over 30 years of space, satellite, and aeronautics/aviation experience. Since his retirement from active duty in 2011, Russ has served in key executive positions with Northrop Grumman, HawkEye 360, and as Chief Engineer at BAE Systems. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Mississippi State University and a Master of Science degree in astronautical engineering from West Coast University.
Airbus U.S. Board of Directors
The Honorable Franklin C. Miller
Frank Miller is an Airbus Outside Director and a member of the GSC. He served 31 years in the US Government and was a senior policy official for over two decades in the Pentagon and on the NSC Staff. He serves on several US Government Advisory Boards and is a member of the Board of Managers of Sandia National Laboratory. In addition to receiving multiple high-level US Government awards he has received the French Legion of Honor, Norway’s Royal Order of Merit, Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, and an honorary knighthood from the United Kingdom.
William L. Shelton General, United States Air Force (retired)
William “Willie” Shelton is an independent consultant serving on corporate boards for PredaSAR, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. and Voyager Space Holdings. He is also Chairman of the Colorado Thirty Group. General Shelton retired as Commander, Air Force Space Command, in September 2014. During his career he commanded space operations units at every level and held staff positions in a wide range of USAF and DOD organizations. He commanded all Department of Defense space operations during internationally significant events and while leading Air Force Space Command, he drove the development of new satellite architectural concepts to address growing space threats and significant fiscal challenges. General Shelton earned a BS in astronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1976, an MS in astronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1980, and an MS in national security studies from the National War College in 1995.
Rear Admiral, USN (retired) Kevin Sweeney
Rear Admiral, USN (retired) Kevin Sweeney is an Airbus U.S. Outside Director. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Company and The Roosevelt Group. He is also an Independent Board Member for Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corporation and U.S. Partnership for Assured Electronics. He served as Chief of Staff to the 26th Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis from January 2017 to January 2019. In this role, he was the primary advisor to the Secretary across the full spectrum of national security issues, from the reemergence of great power competition to ongoing counterterrorism missions, while overseeing the Department of Defense’s strategic initiatives and daily operations around the world.
Michael Schoellhorn
Michael Schoellhorn is an Airbus U.S. Inside Director and is Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Defence and Space. He is also a member of the company’s Executive Committee. He is responsible for the division’s performance across a range of ground-to-air products an solutions. These products and solutions safeguard the sovereignty of nations, connect people across the globe, and protect the digital space. The space technology is helping to solve some of the biggest challenges on Earth and also support scientific missions into space.
Bruno Even
Bruno Even is an Airbus U.S. Inside Director and is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airbus Helicopters and member of the Airbus Executive Committee as of April 1, 2018. He joined the company from Safran, where held various management positions at Helicopter Engines and Electronic & Defence businesses. Since 2015, he has served as Chief Executive Officer of Safran Helicopter Engines (ex-Turbomeca). Prior to that position, he was CEO of Safran Electronics & Defence (ex-Sagem).
Jeff Knittel
C. Jeffrey (Jeff) Knittel is an Airbus U.S. Inside Director and is the Chairman and CEO of Airbus Americas, Inc. In addition, he is the Head of Region for the Americas and as such reports directly to the Group CEO. He is responsible for Airbus’ commercial aircraft business throughout the Americas, as well as for providing leadership for the company’s market leading helicopter business and its space and defense unit in North America.
Jean-Marc Nasr
Jean-Marc Nasr is an Airbus U.S. Inside Director and is Head of Space Systems within Airbus Defence and Space, President of Airbus Defence and Space SAS appointed 1st June 2019. Since January 2019, he had been Head of Asia Pacific Region for Airbus and Airbus Defence and Space, based in Singapore. From 2014 to 2018, he acted as Executive Vice President in Airbus Defence and Space, and headed France, UK, Middle East and Africa regional activities.
Business Line Leaders
Debra Facktor
Debra Facktor is responsible for leading Airbus U.S.’s Space Systems, which includes managing the National Security Space and Space Exploration line of business in the U.S. She is a member of the Airbus OneWeb Satellites board. Prior to joining Airbus U.S., Debra was Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Operations for Ball Aerospace, leading the company’s Washington DC operations, strategic development, and marketing and communications. Debra is actively engaged as an advisor and mentor in the aerospace community, and is a fellow of AIAA, the American Astronautical Society (AAS) and an academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). Debra received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, and is an alumna of the International Space University summer session program in Strasbourg, France.
Scott Tumpak
Scott Tumpak is responsible for leading Airbus U.S.’s Military Helicopters line of business in the U.S., which includes managing the company’s military rotorcraft operation in the U.S. Scott began his work in the Airbus Helicopters division as a program manager in Donauwoerth, Germany in 2012. Previous to joining Airbus U.S., Scott was Senior Director for the UH-72A Lakota program, based in Grand Prairie, TX where he was responsible for managing the production, modification and support activities for the Lakota contract with the U.S. Army. Scott started his career leading the market analysis function at Avascent, a defense and aerospace consulting firm, before joining Airbus in 2005. Scott holds a BA in Political Science from Occidental College, an MA in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University and holds a fellowship from the University of Syracuse’s Maxwell School in National Security Studies.
Jose Antonio de la Fuente
Jose Antonio de la Fuente is responsible for leading Airbus U.S.’s Military Aircraft Line of Business in the U.S., which includes the sales of military aircraft, the program execution and the Service Center in the United States. Prior to that, in 2009 he worked for Airbus Military North America leading the sales and business operations of transport and military aircraft in the United States. He also held different positions in Airbus Military marketing in Spain and worked one year in certification in France. Mr. de la Fuente earned his master’s degree in Aerospace engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in Spain, and holds a Master of Business Administration degree with honors from George Washington University, Washington D.C.
Didier Cormary
Didier Cormary is responsible for leading the capture and execution of Airbus U.S. Connected Intelligence and UAS Line of Business, and is also leading Sales for Airbus U.S. From 2017 to June 2020, Didier served as Vice President and Head of Dynamic Components for Airbus Helicopters in Marignane, France where he was responsible for dynamic component procurement for all of Airbus Helicopters. Prior to 2017 he was Vice President and Head of Programs for Helibras, Airbus Helicopters Brazilian subsidiary. Previously, Didier served from 2006 to 2011 as the Light Utility Helicopter Program Director in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Brian Zarchin
Brian Zarchin is the Vice President, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) at Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. Brian joined Airbus in January 2020 after serving as the U.S. Army Business Development Executive at Boeing Subsidiary, Insitu. Brian supports Airbus’ valued customers today by leveraging over 28 years of serving our Nation and our Warfighters as a U.S. Army Aviator and leader at tactical, operational and strategic levels within the Department of Defense, and as an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) industry leader. Brian is a graduate of James Madison University, earned his master’s degree at the Marine Corps University and completed Harvard University’s Essential Management Skills for Emerging Business Leaders Course.
Business Development Team
Aubert Kimbrell
Aubert Kimbrell is Vice President of Government Relations for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. He serves as an advisor on corporate political strategy, acts as a liaison to federal and state government officials, and works to secure federally appropriated funding for corporate activities. Kimbrell primarily supports corporate program initiatives within the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. Before joining Airbus, Kimbrell served on the staff of U.S. Representative (now U.S. Senator) Roger Wicker, working primarily on defense issues, and later rising to the role of Legislative Director. Kimbrell was born in Meridian, Mississippi and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State University.
Christopher Demi
Christopher Demi is the Executive Director - Business Development, where he is responsible for business development and strategic growth of the Airbus U.S. C4ISR Line of Business while also serving as the maritime customer subject matter expert and representative. Before joining Airbus U.S., he was the Acting Deputy Assistant Commandant for Intelligence and Strategic Advisor for the U.S. Coast Guard. He is a highly decorated former Naval Officer with nearly 15 years of combined active and reserve duty experience. Chris holds a BA in Political Science from Villanova University and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Lavanson “LC” Coffey
Lavanson is the Executive Director - Customer Engagement responsible for enabling bi-directional Line of Business access and communication with the nation’s senior Space and Air Force leaders. LC retired as a Colonel from the United States Air Force where he successfully led diverse, mission-focused teams at the group, squadron and flight levels over the course of 25+ years. He joined Airbus US from Ball Aerospace, in Colorado, where he was the Director for Military Space Programs. LC earned his BS in General Engineering from the US Air Force Academy, an MS in General Engineering from California State University-Northridge, an a pair of MA degrees from Air University.