The Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) of the Royal Air Force is responsible for delivering the RAF Strategy through people, equipment, digital, training, infrastructure and support to ensure the Service can deliver air and space power for the nation and project power and influence around the World.
Air Marshal Sir Lloyd joined the RAF in September 1991, having gained a First-Class Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from Manchester University. Following specialist Engineer Officer training, he worked on Hercules C-130s and the Tornado GR1/4 aircraft at RAF Brüggen, TTTE RAF Cottesmore and 14 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth, which included overseas exercises and several detachments to the Gulf.
In 2009, he became Officer Commanding Engineering and Logistics Wing at RAF Marham, overseeing RAF Marham’s first deployment to Afghanistan. He was also the engineering lead for the Tornado GR4 contribution to operations over Libya under OP ELLAMY.
In 2011, he was posted to the Ministry of Defence, providing MoD senior management and Ministers with specialist advice on air, space, and cyber issues. Promoted to Group Captain in 2012, he took up the post of Chief Engineer and Type Airworthiness Authority within the Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) Project Team at Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S). He supported Reaper on Operations, brought Watchkeeper and Scan Eagle into Service with the British Army and Royal Navy respectively, and authorised the flight-testing of Taranis, a UCAS demonstration vehicle.
In 2016, promoted to Air Commodore, he took up the post of Head Typhoon Delivery Team in DE&S, where he was responsible for the capability development and in-Service support of Typhoon and the Battle of Britain aircraft. Having supported Typhoon operations on Op SHADER, he successfully led Project CENTURION, the major international upgrade programme that integrated new weapons and capabilities on Typhoon, allowing Tornado to retire from RAF Service. This major programme gained the BAE Systems Chairman's Gold Award and Minister for Defence Procurement's Acquisition Excellence Awards overall winner in 2019.
In 2021, he was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal as Director Support and the Chief Engineer of the RAF, also leading on the development of Defence’s Aviation NetZero strategy.
In September 2023 he was appointed Air Marshal and took over his current role as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
Air Marshal Lloyd gained a MSc from the University of Oxford in Major Programme Management, a master’s degree in Defence Administration from Cranfield University and an MA in Defence Studies from King’s College London. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, also overseeing the annual Universities Aerospace Challenge.
He was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020.
1991 - Bachelor of Engineering (BEng)
1998 - Chartered Engineer (CEng)
2002 - MDA
2008 - Masters of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (MA)
2011 - Fellowship of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE)
2018 - Masters of Science (MSc)
2020 - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
