Germany wants to create a Center for Drone Protection

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the threat to German security from drones is growing and announced the creation of a new Drone Protection Center.

This is reported by the German media outlet Stern.

Dobrindt stressed that the threat can be abstract, but in some cases it is very concrete, as there is an element of espionage associated with drones. He added that on Friday night, “swarms” of drones were detected over the land of Schleswig-Holstein.

In the wake of the incidents, the minister announced the creation of a Center for Drone Protection, which will combine the competencies of the federal and state governments.

“The center must be established quickly, even if existing structures are in place,” Dobrindt stressed. The minister also told the Rheinische Post newspaper that Germany is working on a joint research project with Israel on drone defense.

Dobrindt also plans to give the Bundeswehr more powers to detect, intercept and shoot down drones. Currently, this responsibility lies mainly with the police. Dobrindt is currently drafting a bill that would oblige the Bundeswehr to provide “official assistance” to the police when drones are used.

The German Interior Ministry intends to present a revised version of the Aviation Security Act this fall. However, the police union has rejected these plans. Its chairman Jochen Koppelke said that while it is good that Dobrindt is now working on drone protection, he “as Interior Minister must empower his police and not rely on the Bundeswehr, because the deployment of the Bundeswehr is difficult and only possible in a few exceptions”.

The police are always available, Kopelke stressed. On the other hand, the Bundeswehr “reacts too slowly to these spontaneous threats” .Therefore, instead of relying on “prolonged administrative assistance” from the Bundeswehr, “immediate legal grounds for the immediate shooting down of drones by all law enforcement agencies in Germany” are needed.

The chairman of the Bundestagʼs Defense Committee Thomas Rövekamp, however, supported Dobrindtʼs proposal.

“We must be able to combat such drones with all technical means, including shooting them down. [...] Too many law enforcement agencies are currently responsible for this: in addition to the Bundeswehr, which is responsible for military property, there are 16 state police forces and the Federal Police, which do not have sufficient capabilities of their own to counter drones,” he told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

Violation of NATO airspace by Russia

On the night of September 10, Polish airspace was violated by Russian drones during Russiaʼs attack on Ukraine. This was the first time that Polish aviation shot down drones over its territory.

On the evening of September 13, Russian drones once again flew into Romanian territory. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the drone entered Romanian territory by almost 10 km and was in the airspace of a NATO country for approximately 50 minutes.

Drone debris was also found on the beaches of Bulgaria and Latvia.

Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission on September 19 and remained there for a total of 12 minutes.

On September 23, the main airport in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, was closed for four hours because of drones. At that time, police did not shoot down the unidentified UAVs. Denmark called the incident the most serious attack on its critical infrastructure and linked it to a series of Russian drone incursions and other violations across Europe.

That same night, drones were recorded over Norway’s main airport.

On the night of September 26, unidentified drones were spotted over the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which borders Denmark. At the same time, drones were recorded near a Swedish naval base.

On September 27, Lithuania, Denmark and Finland reported sightings of unidentified drones in their airspace. In Finland, an unidentified drone was launched over the Valayaskoski power plant in Rovaniemi. In Denmark, drones were spotted over several Armed Forces facilities.

And in Lithuania, three drones were flying near Vilnius airport.

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