CAE appoints Daniel Gelston as group president, defence & security

CAE announced the appointment of Daniel Gelston as group president, defence & security, effective Aug. 24, 2020. He will be based in Washington, D.C. and will be succeeding Heidi Wood, CAE’s executive vice–president, business development & growth initiatives, who was also acting as interim group president.

“I am very pleased to welcome Dan Gelston to CAE’s executive management team, as our new Group President, Defence & Security. He is a proven leader with more than 20 years of experience in the U.S. military, intelligence community and the global defence industry,” said Marc Parent, CAE’s president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “Dan’s energy and his solid track record as a growth-focused leader will be invaluable in driving the growth of our Defence business in our core operations and expanding further into an array of related adjacencies that align well to our business strengths.”

Before joining CAE, Gelston served as president of L3Harris Technologies’ Broadband Communications Systems sector and president of Communication Systems-West division.

Prior to his role at L3Harris Technologies, Gelston was president of the Special Security Agreement (SSA) businesses Smiths Detection Inc. and Cobham Tactical Communications and Surveillance. In 2017, he led the SSA-controlled portion of Smith’s $710 million Morpho Detection acquisition and the divestment of Smith’s Brazil business. In 2015, Gelston led the sale of Cobham’s Surveillance Business and served as CEO during its transition to a standalone company.