RPAS 2026 Speaker Bio

Peter La Franchi

National Defence Director

TBH Pty Ltd

Peter La Franchi is a seasoned defence industry executive with over three decades of experience spanning government, journalism, and industry leadership roles. His career began in 1990 during a pivotal moment in global security when, as a ministerial advisor to Defence Minister Senator Robert Ray, he gained firsthand experience of the Australian Defence Forces mobilising to fight in the First Gulf War. He was also directly involved in the development of the Defence Policy for Industry statement of 1991, better known as the Price Report. Peter also spent nine years as a commissioned officer in the RAAF Special Reserve, assigned to 21 Squadron.

Building on this early policy experience, Mr. La Franchi served in the inaugural Australian Defence Exports Program, where he helped exploration of strategic industry relationships between Australia and Southeast Asia. This was followed by an influential period in journalism, during which he emerged as a leading voice in defence and aerospace reporting. As Senior Editor at Flight International magazine in London, he established himself as an authority on military aerospace and uncrewed systems technology.

Mr. La Franchi's transition to industry leadership has included executive positions with several premier defence technology companies. At MDA Corporation, as Director of Strategic Sales, he led major international campaigns and was directly involved in the management of key uncrewed capability projects across three continents, including the final stages of RAAF's Project Nankeen. He worked as the inaugural Head of Industry Engagement at Boeing Defence Australia, followed by three years at Airbus Australia Pacific as Senior Manager Strategy and Business Development. Between 2021 and 2025 Peter was the Executive General Manager for Future Business at Nova Systems, with this including involvement in multiple uncrewed systems and loitering munitions development initiatives, as well as associated test and evaluation capability planning.

Peter joined TBH in May 2025 as National Defence Director. In this role he is leveraging advanced project controls and strategy expertise to enable new capability outcomes for Defence and defence industry.

Outside of his professional life, Peter is married to Michelle, a fellow defence sector business professional, and they have two adult daughters living in Brisbane.