Germany’s Hensoldt hires Thales executive to lead company

PARIS — Defense electronics specialist Hensoldt has hired a competitor’s executive as its new leader, the German company announced Monday.

Oliver Dörre will become CEO at Hensoldt and replace outgoing boss Thomas Müller on April 1.

Dörre joins Hensoldt from the French firm Thales, where he led the company’s German arm. Dörre has already started work on Hensoldt’s management board, the company noted.

“The handover process that is now beginning and the familiarisation of Oliver Dörre are part of our long-term succession planning,” Müller said in the statement. “Oliver is the ideal candidate to optimally develop HENSOLDT’s potential in a new defence policy environment and to implement our international growth strategy.”

Oliver Dörre, left, shakes hands with outgoing Hensoldt CEO Thomas Müller. (Hensoldt)

Dörre is set to take over at Hensoldt amid rising defense budgets around the world . The company estimates business opportunities in the 2024-2028 time period will be worth about €34 billion (U.S. $37 billion), with almost a quarter of that coming from Germany.

The company in November reported nine-month revenue rose 3.2% year over year to €1.14 billion.

Hensoldt provides radar systems used in the Eurofighter jet and the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ships, as well as optoelectronics for the Leopard tank. It is also leading the sensor development for the European Future Combat Air System program. With sensors at the core of the connected battlefield, Hensoldt expects that business to grow at twice the rate of the overall defense market.

Dörre holds a degree in computer science and worked as a general staff officer in the German Air Force from 1988 to 2010, most recently as a policy officer with a rank of lieutenant colonel in the planning department of the German Defence Ministry. He held several management roles at the tech firm Frequentis before joining Thales in 2015, and then becoming CEO of Thales Germany at the start of 2021.

Thales has appointed Christoph Ruffner to replace Dörre, the company said in a statement. Ruffner will report to Philippe Duhamel, Thales’ executive vice president for defense mission systems. Ruffner previously led the spectrum dominance and airborne solutions division at Hensoldt, where he was a member of the executive committee.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——德国国防电子专家亨索尔特公司周一宣布，该公司已聘请竞争对手的一位高管担任其新领导人。

Oliver Dörre 将于 4 月 1 日接替即将离任的首席执行官 Thomas Müller，成为 Hensoldt 的首席执行官。

多尔此前在法国泰雷兹公司任职，领导该公司德国分部。亨索尔特公司表示，多尔已开始在亨索尔特管理委员会任职。

穆勒在声明中表示：“目前正在启动的交接流程以及对奥利弗·多尔的熟悉工作是我们长期继任计划的一部分。奥利弗是充分发挥HENSOLDT在新国防政策环境下的潜力并实施我们国际增长战略的理想人选。”

左图为奥利弗·多尔与即将离任的亨索尔特首席执行官托马斯·穆勒握手。（亨索尔特）

在全球国防预算不断增长的背景下，多尔即将接管亨索尔特公司。该公司预计，2024年至2028年期间的商业机会价值将达到约340亿欧元（370亿美元），其中近四分之一来自德国。

该公司11月份公布的数据显示，前九个月的收入同比增长3.2%，达到11.4亿欧元。

亨索尔特公司为欧洲战斗机和美国海军濒海战斗舰提供雷达系统，并为豹式坦克提供光电器件。该公司还主导着欧洲未来作战空中系统项目的传感器研发。鉴于传感器在互联战场中的核心地位，亨索尔特公司预计其业务增长速度将是整体国防市场增速的两倍。

多尔拥有计算机科学学位，1988年至2010年间在德国空军担任参谋军官，最近担任德国国防部计划部门的政策官员，军衔为中校。在2015年加入泰雷兹之前，他曾在科技公司Frequentis担任多个管理职位，并于2021年初成为泰雷兹德国公司的首席执行官。

泰雷兹公司在一份声明中表示，已任命克里斯托夫·鲁夫纳接替多尔的职位。鲁夫纳将向泰雷兹国防任务系统执行副总裁菲利普·杜哈梅尔汇报工作。鲁夫纳此前曾领导亨索尔特公司的频谱优势和机载解决方案部门，并担任该公司执行委员会成员。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。