Vice Admiral Sir Andy Kyte KBE CB FCILT
Biography
Vice Admiral Sir Andy Kyte was appointed as the Chief of Defence Logistics and Support (CDLS) with effect from September 2023.
A career logistician, he has over 38 years’ service, including operational tours in Northern Ireland, the Arabian Gulf and Afghanistan. Previous appointments include Head of Defence Logistic Operations and Command of the High Readiness Joint Force Logistic HQ. In 2018 he was appointed as the 2* Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) (Support Operations) where he was responsible for the provision of strategic level policy, planning and direction in support of current and contingent operations. His tenure was dominated by the Support challenges created by BREXIT, COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prior to assuming the post of CDLS he led a study for the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), focused on increasing Defence outputs.
Vice Admiral Kyte is a graduate of the Higher Command and Staff Course and the London Business School. He holds a BA in Modern History and an MA in Defence Studies and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He was appointed a Companion of the Bath in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List for his contribution to Defence’s response to the COVID pandemic and was knighted in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours List.
Chief of Defence Logistics and Support
Chief of Defence Logistics and Support (CDLS) is a senior leader within the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group and leads the National Armaments Logistics and Support organisation.
Logistics and Support enables, sustains, and modernises the warfighting readiness of the UK Armed Forces through the delivery of integrated, resilient and efficient Support.
The role of Logistics and Support is to:
- plan and operate Support capabilities
- deliver Logistics and Support services
- deliver projects and programmes to modernise Logistics and Support
- act as the Support Function, responsible for setting the pan-Defence architecture, ensuring Support is coherent, effective and delivered as a single, integrated enterprise
- act as the Lead Command for Joint Support Enabling capabilities
- manage the Strategic Base as a front-line capability and cohere the operational energy transition