Suspicious drones fly over German training bases and military barracks on an almost weekly basis. Although the problem has been known since October 2022, the German army has not acted on the matter yet. Experts suspect Russian espionage, as Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in most of the affected sites.
The only German action so far has been to retrain military police to use HP 47 jammers, but the systems have not proven sufficiently effective against drones.
Drones are regularly spotted over the Klitz military training ground, where the German military is training Ukrainians on Leopard 1 aircraft. At other bases, sometimes several drones enter the airspace at the same time. This is clearly organized and strongly suggests Russia
– said Markus Faber, defense expert of the Free Democratic Party. The expert added: It was revealed during the parliamentary hearing that Germany has not been able to capture a drone and a single pilot yet.
The German military established a drone task force on November 15, 2023, but within two months nothing more frequently had happened in Germany. According to the Secretary of State, a ministerial working group is working to evaluate and acquire appropriate devices and establish controls for their use.
Cover image source: German Press Agency via Getty Images
