Chemring people who 'Pave the Way' - Graham Wade

Chemring operates in a unique and specialist environment. We are the people who challenge convention and develop world-class thinking to truly make a difference in the lives of our customers. And that doesn’t happen by chance. It takes the skill, ingenuity, experience, and enthusiasm of brilliant people considered experts in their field.  

Graham Wade is Technical Manager – Naval Countermeasures, at Chemring Countermeasures UK (CCM UK) in Salisbury. Graham’s pyro-engineering career started 44 years ago when he began his apprenticeship at Chemring.  
Since then, he has become a technical expert in the design and development of naval countermeasures. As part of such a niche and specialist industry, Graham works closely with customers to meet their exacting product requirements and remains as eager as ever to improve product design and develop new ideas continuously.  

“This is a truly unique job, and there is always more to do and learn. When I specialised in mechanical engineering at polytechnic, I had chosen a different industry from everyone else on my course, and that’s what makes it unique. You get to be involved in so many aspects of engineering. For example, while a naval cartridge is an engineered item, it just so happens also to contain electronics and energetic materials. This means that there are so many influences to consider; the products are complex systems.”

“It’s fascinating work and never gets dull from an engineering perspective. I’m also fortunate to work with such a strong and multi-skilled team of people. In the naval development team, we have expertise from a range of backgrounds, including the RAF, Army, 3-D modelling, energetics, software and an engineer who previously worked in aeronautics at QinetiQ. It’s a great mix of people. We have the freedom to develop our own individual expertise and focus on different aspects of technical development for our customers.” 

Having been in the industry for over four decades, Graham has seen a huge step forward in safety, as well as a more defined focus on naval and air countermeasure products. Explains Graham, 

“Safety has changed enormously over the years. In the early days, we used to rush out to the test ground to try out an idea. Now there are risk assessments and work instructions to complete before any test can be carried out. When I first joined Chemring, there was a multitude of pyrotechnic products of many different types. Now we have a far more focused portfolio and a true partnership approach with our customers.”

“This partnership enables us to interact more with the end-users of our products, which greatly helps with future product development. For example, we have been involved in ships trials with the Royal Navy and have carried out trials on the Type 45 destroyers. During some trials, we spent four or five days at sea interacting with all the service personnel and learning about the ship and how they operate. We then act as consultants to the ship’s crew as they load and fire the countermeasures. It’s a very close working relationship and one we have found hugely beneficial to the work we do.” 

“In order to test-fire our naval countermeasures, we must go to external ranges, such as the QinetiQ ranges in South Wales and Scotland. I have seen many cartridges fired over the years, and at each test firing, there is always something new to learn. There remains much I’d like to do to further develop our products, and the Naval Development Team have not run out of new ideas yet!”