Airbus Defence and Space has announced that Dirk Hoke will succeed Bernhard Gerwert as its chief executive in 2016. Hoke, who was most recently CEO of the Large Drives business unit at Siemens, will assume his role on the 1st of January next year and will take full control of the company in April. Commenting on the news, Airbus Group CEO, Tom Enders, said he was “pleased” to have found “an excellent successor”.