CAE appoints new defense group president

• By Ross Wilkers
• Aug 10, 2020

CAE has hired nearly two-decade defense sector veteran and former L3Harris Technologies executive Dan Gelston as president of CAE’s defense and security group.

Gelston will officially join CAE on Aug. 24 and work out of its office in Washington, D.C., the aerospace and defense company said Monday.

He succeeds Heidi Wood, who held the role on an interim basis in addition to her duties as executive vice president of business development and growth initiatives. Wood took on the acting duties in June when Todd Probert departed CAE to join CACI International as a sector president, a role he started in July, according to CACI’s website.

At L3Harris, Gelston was president of its broadband communications systems sector and president of the communication systems-west division.

Gelston’s career also includes time as president of Smiths Detection Inc. and Cobham Tactical Communications and Surveillance, which later became Domo Tactical Communications after a divestiture in 2016.