Speakers - Security and Defense 2027 - Handelsblatt Live

First speaker commitments:

Rear Admiral Christian Bock - Head of the Innovation Centre of the German Armed Forces

Flotilla Admiral Christian Bock Head of Innovation Center of the German Armed Forces More information

Jan-Hendrik Boelens - CEO & Co-founder Alpine Eagle GmbH

Jan-Hendrik Boelens CEO & Co-founder – Alpine Eagle GmbH

Vice Admiral Dr. Thomas Daum - Inspector of Cyber and Information Space, German Armed Forces

Vice Admiral Dr. Thomas Daum Inspector of Cyber and Information Domain – German Armed Forces More information

Andreas Frank - Defense Leader & Partner EY Germany

Andreas Frank Defense Leader & Partner – EY Germany More information

Jan F. Kallmorgen - Partner focusing on Geopolitical Advisory & Defence, EY-Parthenon

Jan F. Kallmorgen Partner with a focus on Geopolitical Advisory & Defence – EY-Parthenon More information

Annette Lehnigk-Emden - President BAAINBw

Annette Lehnigk-Emden President – BAAINBw More information

Prof. Dr. Carlo Masala - Professor of Security and Defense Policy, University of the German Federal Armed Forces Munich, Director of the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies, Director of the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight, Project Manager of the Competence Center for Early Crisis Detection

Prof. Dr. Carlo Masala Professor of Security and Defense Policy, University of the German Federal Armed Forces Munich; Director of the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies; Director of the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight; Project Manager of the Competence Center for Early Crisis Detection More information

Lieutenant General Holger Neumann - Inspector of the Air Force

Lieutenant General Holger Neumann Inspector of the Air Force

Armin Papperger - Chairman of the Board, Rheinmetall AG; President, BDSV

Armin Papperger Chairman of the Board, Rheinmetall AG – President, BDSV More information

Sassan Parvin - Director Public Sector & Defense SThree

Sassan Parvin Director Public Sector & Defense – SThree

Major General Michael Traut - Commander of the German Armed Forces Space Command

Major General Michael Traut Commander of the Space Command – German Armed Forces More information

Lieutenant General Michael Vetter - Head of Innovation and Cyber Department, Federal Ministry of Defence

Lieutenant General Michael Vetter Head of Innovation and Cyber Department – Federal Ministry of Defence More information

Leonard Wessendorff - Co-Founder & CEO Project Q

Leonard Wessendorff Co-Founder & CEO – Project Q More information

Daniel Zittel - Chief Sales Officer Daimler Truck Defense, Daimler Truck AG

Daniel Zittel Chief Sales Officer – Daimler Truck Defense, Daimler Truck AG More information

Loading more content

Moderation:

Nicole Bastian - Head of Podcast, Video & Live Journalism Department, Handelsblatt

Nicole Bastian Head of Podcast, Video & Live Journalism Department – Handelsblatt

Nana Brink - Editor-in-Chief, Tagesspiegel Background Security & Defense

Nana Brink Editor-in-Chief – Tagesspiegel Background Security & Defense

Markus Fasse - Editor Defense Briefing, Chief Correspondent Handelsblatt

Markus Fasse Editor Defense Briefing, Chief Correspondent – Handelsblatt

Larissa Holzki - Editorial Head of TECH Handelsblatt

Larissa Holzki Editorial Head of TECH – Handelsblatt More information

Frank Specht - Co-Editor Defense-Briefing, Editor Handelsblatt

Frank Specht Co-Editor Defense Briefing, Editor – Handelsblatt More information

Security and Defense 2027

January 25, 2027 – January 27, 2027 | Grand Hyatt Berlin, Berlin

+49 211 8874 3421

anmeldung@euroforum.com

Order brochure Tickets

Rear Admiral Christian Bock - Head of the Innovation Center of the German Armed Forces

Flotilla Admiral Christian Bock Head of Innovation Center of the German Armed Forces

Rear Admiral Christian Bock was born in Bonn in 1969. In July 1988, he joined the German Navy and completed basic training at the Naval Officers' School in Flensburg, followed by basic training aboard the training ships GORCH FOCK and DEUTSCHLAND.

From 1989 to 1993, he studied business administration (Dipl.-Kfm.) at Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg. After training as a mine warfare officer in 1994, he was assigned as a watch officer aboard minehunter 331B and supply ship 701A in Wilhelmshaven. In 1997, he left the minesweeping squadron and completed an on-the-job traineeship at the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg).

In 1997 and 1998 he attended the advanced specialist training for naval leadership service at the Naval Operations School in Bremerhaven.

After his training, he took command of the minesweeper KULMBACH, class 343, in September 1998. This was then converted as "First of class" into the minehunter class MJ333 with the minehunting drone "Seefuchs".

In 2000 he was appointed to the office of the Naval Command Staff BMVg Concept Naval and international contacts and in 2001 selected for the 43rd Admiral Staff Course (LGAN) at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College in Hamburg.

After completing the LGAN in October 2003, he was transferred to the German section of NATO's Supreme Allied Command Transformation headquarters in Norfolk. At headquarters, he served as office manager for the Assistant Chief of Staff Implementation (**) and the Deputy Chief of Staff Transformation (***).

From October 2005 to February 2007, he served in the 3rd Minesweeping Squadron as an operations staff officer and deputy commander. Subsequently, he worked as a desk officer in the Armed Forces Command Staff (Operational Command) and the Operational Command Staff of the Federal Ministry of Defense.

From October 2008 to August 2010, Rear Admiral Bock was appointed commander of the 5th Minesweeping Squadron, including a four-month deployment as commander of the German UNIFIL contingent in Lebanon and Cyprus (December 8 – March 9). Following this assignment, he became a maritime expert and staff officer, conceptually responsible for the German Armed Forces' National Level of Ambition and capability profile.

In February 2011, he was appointed Deputy Head of the Department for Military Aspects of Security Policy in the Federal Chancellery, where he was responsible for handling all military matters in an interdisciplinary and cross-departmental manner at the political-strategic level. In October 2013, he assumed responsibility as Head of the Maritime Operations/Horn of Africa Task Force within the German Armed Forces Operational Command. He was promoted to Captain (Seaman) in this role.

From April 2015 to April 2018, he served as Head of Planning Division I 1 at the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg). In this role, he was responsible for the Bundeswehr concept, target setting, and networked security. From April 2018 to September 2021, he commanded the 1st Flotilla and served as Director of the NATO Center of Excellence for Operations in Confined and Shallow Waters in Kiel.

Subsequently, from September 2021 to October 2023, he took over the role of Director of Training and Deputy Commander at the Bundeswehr Leadership Academy in Hamburg.

In 2023, Rear Admiral Bock became the sub-department head for "Military Policy and Operations" within the "Strategy and Operations" division of the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg). This sub-department was subsequently renamed "Military Strategy and Operations Abroad" within the newly formed "Military Strategy, Operations and Operations" division. In mid-2025, due to organizational changes, he then headed the sub-department "Military Readiness and Policy" within the Armed Forces Division of the BMVg.

Rear Admiral Bock assumed his current position as head of the Bundeswehr Innovation Center in Erding on February 2, 2025.

He is a graduate of the Senior Strategic Leadership Program 2019 at the Defense Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, and the Combined Forces Maritime Component Commanders Flag Course 19-4C, organized by the 6th Fleet of the US Navy and the US-Naval War College in Naples, Italy in 2019, as well as the 2025 Strategic Leadership Course of the US Navy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rear Admiral Bock is married to Elke Bock and has two grown sons. When he is not working, he is very involved in various local and national maritime associations, active in local politics, and organizes alumni networks and related events. He enjoys playing the piano, running, and cycling.

Actions:
1991 Lieutenant (junior grade)
1994 Lieutenant Commander
1997 Lieutenant Commander
2002 Lieutenant Commander
2005 Frigate Captain
2013 Captain at Sea
2018 Flotilla Admiral

Prof. Dr. Carlo Masala - Professor of Security and Defense Policy, University of the German Federal Armed Forces Munich, Director of the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies, Director of the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight, Project Manager of the Competence Center for Early Crisis Detection

Prof. Dr. Carlo Masala Professor of Security and Defense Policy, University of the German Federal Armed Forces Munich; Director of the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies; Director of the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight; Project Manager of the Competence Center for Early Crisis Detection

Professor Masala studied political science, German studies, and Romance philology from 1988 to 1992. He received his doctorate in 1996 and his habilitation in December 2002. In the summer of 2003, he took up a temporary professorship at the Brüder-Scholl-Institute of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and moved to the NATO Defense College in Rome at the beginning of 2004. There, he initially served as a Research Advisor and, from 2006, as Deputy Director in the research department.
employed.

In March 2007, he accepted a professorship in International Politics (renamed Professorship in Security and Defense Policy in 2025) at the Bundeswehr University Munich, which he took up on July 1, 2007. He is also Director of the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies, Director of the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight, and Project Manager of the Competence Center for Early Crisis Detection at the Bundeswehr University Munich.

Professor Masala is co-editor of the Journal for International Relations and SIRIUS – Journal for Strategic Analyzes, and since 2018 co-host of the podcast "Schutzshalber" (Just to be on the safe side). He was a permanent expert advisor to the German Bundestag's Enquete Commission on the Afghanistan deployment and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Science Year 2024 at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Academy for Security Policy and was appointed a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in May 2024. Furthermore, he was elected to the board of the Hermann Ehlers Foundation in October 2024 and has been a member of the Central Committee of German Catholics since May 2025.

In 2022, his book *World Disorder: The Global Crises and the Illusion of the West* (CH Beck) was published, reaching its 8th edition in 2026. His second book, *Conditionally Ready to Defend: Germany's Weakness in Times of Change* (CH Beck), was published in 2023. This was followed in 2024 by *Why the World Cannot Find Peace* (Brandstätter Verlag), which is currently in its third edition. His latest work, *When Russia Wins: A Scenario*, published in March 2025 (CH Beck), has been translated into twelve languages and is now in its 13th edition. In 2023, Professor Masala received the Lichtenberg Medal in Gold from the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities for his scholarly work and science communication. Furthermore, in October 2023, he was awarded the Rohde Prize by the Bundeswehr University for his scholarly achievements.