Born and educated in Northern Ireland, Smyth joined the RAF in 1991 via the Sixth Form Scholarship Scheme, and upon completion of flying training, spent 15 years as a frontline Harrier pilot and weapons instructor. He has extensive combat experience having flown hundreds of operational missions from both land bases and aircraft carriers over: Bosnia; Kosovo; Serbia; Iraq; and Afghanistan. In early staff roles Smyth worked in the UK Air & Space Warfare Centre and spent 2 tours in the F-35 Lightning programme, the latter based in Washington DC as the UK’s F-35 National Director.

In 2013 Smyth retrained as a Tornado pilot and became the Station Commander of RAF Marham, transitioning the base for F-35 integration. On promotion to Air Commodore (1*) in 2015 he became the Tornado Force Commander, and in parallel, the UK’s first F-35 Lightning Force Commander. He followed this with a short appointment in the MOD as the 1* Head of Carrier Enabled Power Projection (CEPP), before deploying to Qatar as Director of the 609th Combined Air and Space Operations Centre during the height of the Counter-Daesh campaign.

Promoted to Air Vice-Marshal (2*) in 2018, Smyth retrained as a Typhoon pilot and became Air Officer Commanding Number 1 Group (AOC 1Gp), where he was responsible for the Air Combat Group of the RAF. In 2020, Smyth then became UK MOD’s inaugural Director Space, setting the foundation for UK Space Command, building the Defence Space Programme, and producing UK’s foundational National and Defence Space Strategies.

Smyth was promoted to Air Marshal (3*) in 2022 and appointed as the RAF’s Deputy Commander (Operations): this role transitioned to become the UK Air and Space Commander in 2023 and was responsible for all RAF’s air and space Air Vice-Marshal Kilvington was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1996 after graduating from Warwick University with an honours degree in Physics. Following Officer and Navigator training he was posted to the Tornado F3 Force where he completed operational tours in the Middle East and South Atlantic. Whilst operating Tornado he became a Qualified Weapons Instructor, later serving 2 years as a flight commander on the F3 Operational Conversion Unit. Between 2014 and 2016 Kilvington commanded Number 8 Squadron operating the E-3D Sentry, during which time it was committed to Coalition and NATO operations in the Middle East and Europe. He was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal by SACEUR for his leadership during this period.

In 2020, Kilvington returned to RAF Waddington as the Station Commander where he was responsible for 3000 service personnel, eight squadrons and the safe operation of seven UK Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance capabilities. In addition to his operational flying tours, he deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 as an Air Advisor supporting a UK Task Force.

Kilvington has completed staff tours in the Ministry of Defence as a desk officer in Theatre Airspace Capability, as the Middle East and Europe Desk Officer in the Operations Directorate and as Assistant Head Force Development in Capability Strategy. In Air Warfare Centre roles, he was the Trials Programme Manager for the Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit and commanded 92 Squadron (Tactics and Training) between 2013 and 2014.

Attending the Advanced Command and Staff Course in 2012, Kilvington gained an MA in Defence Studies, specialising in military ethics. He also completed French language training in 2018 before working with the French Air Force in Paris as the RAF’s Air Liaison Officer. Prior to taking command of 11 Group, he served as the UK’s National Military Representative to SHAPE between 2022 and 2025. He was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 New Year’s Honours list.