Post by Roland Berger

Day 2 at ILA Berlin 2026. Two moments worth sharing. Defense innovation: funding exists. The harder question is how to deploy it. At an exclusive Executive Breakfast with State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt, one message came through clearly: the money is there, but procurement structures within the Bundeswehr need to evolve to match entirely new requirements, from defense startups to drone systems. Europe also needs to get interoperability right. Everything brought to market must be compatible, or the industry risks ending up where fragmented standards have taken others before. Our Partner Manfred Hader outlined what a future fit innovation system actually requires. Three pillars: 🔹 A faster regulatory framework: current timelines are not compatible with the urgency of modern defense needs 🔹 A fundamentally different model of collaboration: across borders, between industry and research, and within ecosystems of partners 🔹 Financing structures that match the scale of the ambition The panel brought together Admiral Christian Bock, Dr. Bastian Giegerich, Director-General and Chief Executive of The International Institute for Strategic Studies, Balazs Nagy, CEO and Co-Founder of TYTAN Technologies, and Marian Rachow, CEO of Elbit Systems Germany. Aerospace supply chain: findings, debate, and ideas for what comes next. Our Partner Dr. Stephan Baur presented the results of our global aerospace supply chain survey at the BDLI Bundesverband der Deutschen Luft- und Raumfahrtindustrie e.V. / GIFAS - Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales / ADS, Inc. Suppliers' Breakfast to a full room of Executives from the major aerospace suppliers from Germany, France and UK, many of whom contributed to the study. The discussion that followed was substantive, and ideas for the next edition are already taking shape. 📊 Read the full study here: https://lnkd.in/e-pAMyYk Rachel Hugo Antoine Kimmel Darot Dy #ILA2026 #AerospaceAndDefense #Defence #Innovation #SupplyChain #RolandBerger