WFS Announces Appointment of William Porter as President of WFS Defence in the US

03 February 2009

WFS announces the appointment of William Porter as President & CEO of WFS Defense, Inc, with responsibility for WFS's Defense and Homeland Security activities in the United States. WFS Defense is a U.S. owned subsidiary of WFS Subsea, and was created to allow WFS to deliver innovative, cost-effective wireless communications and telemetry solutions directly to U.S programs at all levels of security classification.

Brendan Hyland, Chairman of WFS Ltd, stated: “We are very pleased William has joined the WFS team. He brings to us many years of experience and leadership in the U.S. Navy, both as a submarine Commanding Officer and as a Navy Major Program Manager. He has deep knowledge and understanding of the national security customer's needs and the DOD acquisition process. We understand the need to create WFS Defense as a company that will be able to operate freely in the U.S. Defense and Homeland Security markets.”

Mr. Porter spent 28 years in the US Navy, rising to Commanding Officer of USS Nebraska (SSBN-739). He was the NAVSEA Program Manager for Strategic and Attack Submarines (PMS 392), and most recently Senior Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. After leaving the DoD in 2007, he was Director of Operations at McAleese & Assoc, specializing in defense program analysis.

Mr. Porter received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, a MS in Engineering Management from Catholic University, and an International Executive MBA from Georgetown University. He also attended the National Security Management Course at Syracuse University. His Naval education includes the Advanced Program Management Course at Defense Acquisition University and Naval Nuclear Power Training.

On his joining WFS, Mr. Porter commented: “WFS has improved on low frequency radio frequency (RF) research sponsored by the U.S Navy for communicating with submarines during the Cold War. Today, the military is operating more intensely in coastal and riverine environments where short-range, distributed communications and sensor networks are revolutionizing the battlefield. WFS is delivering unique, new through-water and through-ground capabilities from legacy technology by way of advances in digital signal processing, modeling, and antenna design. This is a capability that has not been available until only recently.”

WFS Defense's US office is located minutes from the Pentagon and Washington, DC, in Alexandria, Virginia.