Skip to content
DEFENSE-Netzwerk Thüringen e.V.
DE EN

// Events

Events

CEO workshops, plant visits and specialist events – formats where real conversations happen.

Upcoming events

XIV Turnaround Congress

Rethinking under pressure – business models in a state of emergency

// Where
Weimar
Hotel Elephant, Markt 19, 99423 Weimar, Germany
// Format
External event – the network will be there
// Organiser
Transformation und Turnaroundkongress GbR

A two-day congress in Weimar bringing together entrepreneurs, restructuring and transformation advisors, interim managers and financiers with representatives from politics, public administration and the armed forces – by its own account less a classic congress than a laboratory for the future.

Its central theme addresses a question many Thuringian SMEs are currently facing: how can business models be developed further under pressure – and what role can security and defence technologies play as an additional pillar?

The DEFENSE-Netzwerk Thüringen will be on site. Members and interested companies are welcome to use the congress for conversations with the network.

Register

General meeting for members and interested companies

The state of the network, plans for 2027 – and an open round for companies that would like to get to know us

// Where
Erfurt
LEG Thüringen, Mainzerhofstraße 12, 99084 Erfurt, Germany
// Format
For members and interested companies · registration required
// Organiser
DEFENSE-Netzwerk Thüringen e.V.

The meeting takes stock of the network’s first year: reports from the board and the steering committee, the status of the ongoing formats – CEO workshops, plant visits, trade fair participations – and the plans for 2027.

It is deliberately set up as a meeting for members and interested parties: companies considering membership get an unfiltered impression of how the network operates and which topics currently occupy its members.

Registration by email to kontakt@defnet-th.de – members will receive the invitation with the agenda and starting time separately.

1st Thuringian Aerospace Day

Take off. Innovate. Stay sovereign.

// Where
Jena
Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld (Adhoc Arena), Roland-Ducke-Weg 1, 07745 Jena, Germany
// Format
External event – the network will be there
// Organiser
LRT Kompetenzzentrum Luft- und Raumfahrttechnik Sachsen/Thüringen e.V. with LEG Thüringen and JenaWirtschaft

The premiere of a format that gathers Thuringia’s aerospace sector in one place for the first time – with talks, expert panels, an accompanying exhibition and time for conversations.

The panels are dedicated to civil and military aviation, space technology and digitally sovereign IT solutions. The themes – technological sovereignty, resilient supply chains, international competitiveness and decarbonisation – map directly onto Thuringian optics, sensor technology and precision manufacturing.

An obvious destination for members of the network: registration runs via LEG Thüringen and closes on 18 September 2026 at 12:00 noon.

Register

// Governing bodies The board meets monthly, the steering committee quarterly. These meetings are internal to the association and are not listed here as individual dates.

// Outlook 2027

What we are preparing for 2027

These formats have been agreed and are in preparation. We will announce the specific dates here as soon as they are confirmed.

  • 01

    Workshop “Guiding companies into the defence market”

    First subject area: optics and optronics – one of Thuringia’s strongest capabilities. Hands-on, along the questions that actually arise when entering the market: positioning, requirements, evidence, first points of contact.

  • 02

    Workshop “Procurement routes and prime contractors”

    How public procurement works, where medium-sized suppliers can connect, and what role prime contractors play as door openers into larger programmes.

  • 03

    Network trips to Berlin

    Conversations where programmes and framework conditions are decided – with federal politics, procurement organisations and partners in the capital region.

  • 04

    Plant visits at member companies

    Production lines, test benches, laboratories – networking on the shop floor. In our experience, the most robust cooperations grow out of looking at each other’s production.

  • 05

    Joint trade fair participations

    Participations are planned at Enforce Tac in Nuremberg (1–3 March 2027) and DSEI in London (7–10 September 2027). Further trade fairs are under review.

Members receive invitations and details in advance by email.

Past events

Berlin

Buy, Build & Scale with Ukraine

Erfurt

1st Exclusive CEO Workshop

Participants in the plenum at the 1st exclusive CEO workshop of the DEFENSE-Netzwerk Thüringen in ErfurtKeynote at the 1st exclusive CEO workshop in Erfurt
Messe Erfurt

2nd Thuringian Forum for Security and Defence Technology – the network introduces itself

Title slide “Introducing the Defense-Netzwerk Thüringen” during the on-stage presentation at the forumOn-stage presentation at the 2nd Thuringian Forum at Messe Erfurt