Defence Analyst & WOME Consultant — Founder, ISC Defence Intelligence and Sawyers Global Solutions Ltd. Over 20 years of practitioner experience in Weapons, Ordnance, Munitions and Explosives.
Steve Sawyers MIExpE VR is a defence analyst, WOME practitioner, and the founder of ISC Defence Intelligence and Sawyers Global Solutions Ltd. With more than 25 years of practitioner experience in Weapons, Ordnance, Munitions and Explosives, Steve brings a depth of technical knowledge to defence intelligence analysis that distinguishes ISC from conventional open-source outlets.
That experience runs from January 2000. Steve began as a Staff Sergeant Ammunition Technician with the Royal Logistic Corps, deploying to southern Iraq on OP TELIC with Joint Force EOD on explosive ordnance disposal, improvised explosive device defeat, technical exploitation and ammunition technical investigation. He spent five and a half years in munitions management at Defence Munitions Longtown, rising to Operations Manager across General Munitions Production, Explosive Storage and the Munitions Account with 100 staff, before serving as Explosives Safety Assurance Manager at HM Naval Base Clyde, where he held SQEP-designated regulatory accountability for explosive safety across the United Kingdom’s submarine operating base under DSA 03.OME.
From 2013 to 2017 he served at sea as Supply and Transport Officer (Naval) at the rank of Commander, Royal Navy, aboard RFA Fort Victoria and RFA Fort Austin, responsible for afloat ammunition, dangerous cargo and naval stores on OP KIPION and in support of Combined Task Forces 151, 152 and 153. He then spent nearly eight years at the NATO Support and Procurement Agency in Luxembourg, latterly as Senior Ammunition Technician, developing statements of work and requests for proposals for multinational ammunition supply, conducting technical evaluation of bids, supporting Contract Award Committees and managing quality plans and discrepancy reports.
His analytical work spans NATO procurement frameworks, ammunition technical intelligence, explosive safety regulation, and the European defence industrial base. Steve applies structured analytical methodology (grounded in NATO STANAG 2022 source evaluation and AQAP-aligned quality assurance) to every piece of analysis published under the ISC banner.
As a Member of the Institute of Explosives Engineers (MIExpE) and a Volunteer Reservist, Steve maintains active practitioner standing in the defence community, ensuring that ISC analysis reflects current operational and regulatory realities rather than purely academic assessment.
ISC Defence Intelligence is published as open-source, unclassified analysis. All content is evidence-based, sourced from publicly available material, and evaluated against professional intelligence standards. ISC operates independently from commercial suppliers and maintains full editorial integrity across all research and publications.
Professional membership of the Institute of Explosives Engineers, the UK’s leading body for practitioners in the explosives industry. Membership reflects demonstrated technical competence in explosives science, safety, and application.
Active service as a Volunteer Reservist, maintaining operational and practitioner connection to UK defence structures and maintaining current awareness of defence operational requirements.
Boutique defence consulting firm providing specialist advisory services across WOME, NATO procurement, explosive safety, and international defence frameworks. Serving government agencies, defence manufacturers, and multinational programmes.
Founded ISC Defence Intelligence as the open-source analytical and editorial division of Sawyers Global Solutions. Applies NATO STANAG 2022 methodology, AQAP-aligned QA, and practitioner expertise to produce analysis for defence professionals, procurement specialists, and NATO-aligned organisations.