Ilika CEO discusses appointment of former general to drive Goliath's defence push

Ilika PLC (AIM:IKA, OTCQX:ILIKF, FRA:I8A) CEO Graeme Purdy spoke with Proactive's Stephen Gunnion about the appointment of a recently retired major general as a defence advisor and the market opportunity for the company's Goliath batteries.

Purdy highlighted Anderton-Brown's decades of military experience across procurement, logistics and communication systems, saying he is helping Ilika engage with defence manufacturing partners and identify applications where Goliath could be particularly well differentiated.

The appointment comes as Ilika builds on positive results announced earlier in the year following battlefield testing of Goliath batteries. Batteries manufactured towards the end of 2025 were provided for testing by an agency advising the UK Ministry of Defence, and Ilika has since been engaging further with the defence industry.

The company is now analysing potential markets for its 10Ah Goliath prototype cell while working to productise the technology, with Purdy explaining that selecting applications suited to Goliath's particular characteristics will be key to the commercialisation strategy.

On the wider market, Purdy pointed to the growing role of autonomous systems and battery-powered communications and intelligence equipment within defence: "So we're seeing that it is a huge opportunity," he said. "And what's absolutely key for us is that we choose the right beachhead application."

The next stage will involve engagement with partners providing battery-powered solutions to the defence sector, which Purdy said is expected to generate news flow in the coming months, with Anderton-Brown's experience central to that push.

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So, uh, we're seeing that it is a huge opportunity and and what's uh absolutely key for us is that we choose the right beach head application, uh so that um we we get the most rapid pull through of the technology um possible.

Hello, you're watching Proactive. I'm joined by Graham Purdy, the CEO of Ilika. Graham, very good to speak with you. Could we start by telling us why is defense such an important market for Goliath at this stage?

Hi, great to be back, Stephen. Well, um, those uh investors who follow Ilika will remember that um earlier in the year, we announced the um interesting and positive uh performance of Goliath batteries in battlefield conditions. Um, you know, we we actually released some of the batteries that we'd made uh at the tail end of 2025 for some uh battlefield testing by one of the agencies that advises the uh MOD. And um, we we've really been building on those positive results and engaging uh with the defense industry, uh and, you know, analyzing which markets we can uh use that 10 amp hour prototype cell in. And um, you know, the part of our fund raise was really to productize that 10 amp hour prototype, um, which uh we are in the process of doing and we're just making sure that actually, um, we've chosen the right defense applications for that.

So, what does Robin Anderson Brown bring to Ilica that you didn't have before?

Well, look, Robin has got decades of experience in the military. Uh, he's got broad sector experience in senior leadership positions, uh, across all sorts of different sectors, uh, but um, crucially in procurement and logistics and communication systems. So this is a really fantastic fit with our needs at the moment.

And what specific defense applications could Goliath batteries be suited to?

Well, that's um a good question because actually there are many applications for batteries uh in the defense sector. And uh it's key that we choose the ones that are the best fit with the specific capabilities and characteristics of our Goliath batteries. And really that's what Robin is helping us with. He's liaising with us and and interfacing with uh defense manufacturing partners so that we choose uh actually the the applications where Goliath is particularly well differentiated.

I mean, Robin talks about growing demand to re-equip European defense. How big could that opportunity be for Ilica?

Well, look, you know, the the whole defense industry is sort of reinventing itself. Um, you know, it's no longer about the heavy equipment that we traditionally, um, uh, link to the defense industry and and to uh, defense capabilities. Uh, more and more we're looking at autonomous systems, uh, and um, you know, battery powered communication and um intelligence systems. And uh, therefore there's almost every aspect of uh the defense sector that is reliant on the battery supply chain. So, uh, we're seeing that it is a huge opportunity and and what's uh absolutely key for us is that we choose the right beach head application, uh so that um we we get the most rapid pull through of the technology, um, possible.

Graham, what are the next steps to turn these defense opportunities into commercial deployments?

Well, next steps really are to uh engage with our partners who provide solutions to uh the defense sector. Um, so, you know, the MOD typically doesn't just uh buy batteries, right? They they buy um battery powered solutions and therefore there is some partnership that needs to happen, uh and that's what you'll see news flow about in the coming months.

I hope you'll keep us posted on that, Graham. Thank you very much for your time today.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to speaking again soon.

We do too. Graham Purdy, the CEO of Ilica.