The 2nd Manama Air Power Symposium (MAPS 2018) will be held on November 13, 2018, at the Sofitel Manama Hotel, Bahrain under the prestigious patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa with the support of the Royal Bahrain Air Force and the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication.
As the official conference of Bahrain International Airshow (BIAS) 2018, MAPS 2018 will once again bring together a select audience of over 300 air force commanders and operators, policymakers, and industry representatives from over two dozen countries for the most important regional air power conference this year.
Senior air force delegations from at least 25 countries headed by the service commanders or their deputies have confirmed participation in MAPS, and they include: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Oman, Tunis, Malaysia, Indonesia and others.
Confirmed Speakers to-date include:
- Major General Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Khalifah, Commander, Royal Bahraini Air Force
- Lieutenant General Joseph T. Guastella Jr., Commander, U.S. Air Forces Central Command
- Vice Admiral Scott A. Stearney, Commander, Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), Fifth Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces, United States
- Air Vice-Marshal Martin (Sammy) Sampson, Director MODSAP, Royal Air Force, UK
- Colonel (Ret) Al Worden, Astronaut, Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot, U.S.A
- Staff Major General (Pilot) Adnan Al-Salama Al Fadhli, Commander, Kuwait Air Force
- Lieutenant General Pilot (PSC) Salah Eldin Abdelkhaliq Saeed, Chief of Staff, Sudan Air Force
- Brigadier General Pilot Ziad Haikal, Commander of Lebanese Armed Forces Air Force
- Air Vice Marshal Ahsan Rafiq, SI (M), Air Officer Commanding, Southern Air Command, PAF, Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force
- Brigadier General Pilot Adham Belal Asendar, Assistant of Air Force Commander for Operations and Training, Royal Jordanian Air Force
- General (Retired) Gary North, Vice President Customer Requirements, Lockheed Martin
- Lieutenant General (Retired) George Trautman, Senior Consultant, Bell Helicopters
Topics to be discussed include:
- Enhancing Fires and Maneuver Integration with Allies – Lessons Learned and Future Priorities
- Burden-Sharing in Arabian Gulf Air Power and Air Defense – Technical Challenges and Over the Horizon Opportunities
- Key Enablers in Developing a Shared Picture and Robust C2 for Joint Operations against Asymmetric Threats
- Effective Close Air Support in Fighting Terrorism: The Lebanese Experience
- Imperatives for Establishing a Unified Mission Command in Combined Air-Sea Operations
- Lessons Learned in Employing Rotary Wing Aircraft for Intelligence-Gathering and Targeting Support in Hybrid Threat Environments
- The Cognitive Dimension of Network-Centric Operations – Implications for Air Force Training and Education Programs
- Effectively Utilizing Joint Exercise to Train and Prepare for Multinational Operations
- Key Focus Area in Harnessing Fully Integrated Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) Training for Distributed Mission Operations
