At the beginning of 2024 Dr Nicolai Künzner was appointed as a member of the Divisional Board of the of the Diehl Defence subgroup and simultaneously took on the role of Technical Managing Director of Diehl Defence GmbH & Co, the company announced on 12 January.
In both functions he succeeds Frank Kienzler, who has retired for age-related reasons and is responsible for the areas of Development, Production, Supply Chain Management and Innovation Management & Product Conformity.
Dr Künzner joined the company in 2004 after studying physics and completing his doctorate at the TU Munich as a development engineer at the former Diehl Munitionssysteme GmbH & Co. After holding management positions as a specialist team and competence centre manager, he became Head of Development at Diehl Defence GmbH & Co from 2020.
With the bundling of the defence business of the Diehl Group in the lead company Diehl Defence GmbH & Co, a four-member board was appointed for its management. As of 1 January 2024, the composition of this board is as follows:
- Helmut Rauch: Chief Executive Officer;
- Thomas Bodenmüller: Chief Financial Officer
- Harald Buschek, PhD: Chief Programme Officer
- Dr Nicolai Künzner: Chief Technology Officer.
![IRIS-T SLM key system components viewed from above, consisting of the command post (left), transporter, erector, launcher (TEL; middle), and radar (right). This system forms the MRAD component of ESSI. [Diehl Defence]](https://euro-sd.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/IRIS-T-SLM-system-components_Diehl-Defence-Kopie-218x150.jpg "Desolate skies: Why GBAD matters")
