Rheinmetall Air Defence: Oliver Dürr leaves, Roman Köhne takes over the division

There is a change of leadership at Rheinmetall Air Defence: according to an internal memo, Oliver Dürr is leaving the Rheinmetall group with effect from 1 October 2026. For five years he headed Rheinmetall Air Defence AG as CEO, and for almost three years he also led the Air Defence division.

According to the memo, he intends in future to “devote himself to new professional challenges outside the group”. As of 1 October, leadership of the strongly grown air defence business passes to Roman Köhne.

During Dürr’s tenure, Rheinmetall’s air defence activities grew strongly. In recent years, sites were expanded and modernised, and the division’s structures and capacities were significantly enlarged.

Rheinmetall acknowledges this work in the internal memo:

We thank Oliver for his great commitment and his important contribution to the development of Air Defence in recent years. This period was characterised by strong growth, the modernisation and expansion of our sites and the further development and strengthening of the division.— Internal memo from Rheinmetall

Dürr thanks Armin Papperger and the team

According to the memo, Dürr himself also looks back with pride on developments in recent years:

Oliver is proud to have initiated these innovations and changes and to have implemented them together with you – and of course also to have been part of this exciting time. His special thanks go to Armin Papperger, his direct superior, who fully supported him in all his plans, as well as to all colleagues on the management board and all employees for their commitment, support and great cooperation.— Oliver Dürr according to the internal memo

Recent years at Rheinmetall Air Defence have been shaped above all by the sharp rise in demand for ground-based air defence and counter-drone systems. This makes the division one of the group’s business units most strongly affected by the extensive European investment in new defence capabilities.

Rheinmetall Air Defence under Roman Köhne

The successor has already been decided: from 1 October 2026, Roman Köhne will lead the Air Defence division. In a business area that is becoming increasingly important for the group, Rheinmetall is thus opting for continuity.

The memo states:

With Roman Köhne, we are ensuring continuity in the leadership of the division and at the same time creating the conditions to consistently continue along the path we have taken— Internal memo from Rheinmetall

In closing, the company extends its wishes to both managers:

We wish Oliver all the best for his future professional and personal path and thank him for the time we spent together. We wish Roman every success in his new role and look forward to working together.— Internal memo from Rheinmetall