Following numerous incidents involving drones, the German federal government has opened a new research centre in Saxony-Anhalt that is also intended to develop countermeasures specifically. Speaking at Magdeburg-Cochstedt Airport on Tuesday, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said the aim was to use research and innovation to win "the arms race between drone defence and drone-defence-overcoming technology". He rejected accusations that responsibilities for drone defence among Germany's security authorities are not clearly regulated.
The "Drone Security Technology Centre" is operated under the lead of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which took over the former Magdeburg-Cochstedt commercial airport in 2019. In 2021, the DLR opened the National Experimental Test Centre for Unmanned Aircraft Systems at the site, and the new centre will now be attached to it.
The centre will be "a central building block of the security architecture against the hybrid threat posed by drones", Dobrindt said. Germany, he added, is "a target of hybrid attacks on a daily basis" by "foreign powers", including attacks using drones. He spoke of the "shadow war of the 21st century". The incident involving a drone loaded with explosives in Leipzig two weeks ago had once again underlined the urgency of defensive measures in this area, he said.
Dobrindt declined to confirm media reports about alleged information from US intelligence services suggesting that Russia was behind the drone incident. His task as federal interior minister was "to provide evidence", the CSU politician stressed. He could not attribute responsibility "on the basis of suspicions".
However, the minister considered links to other planned attacks possible. "Leipzig is not an isolated case; rather, Leipzig is part of a larger structure," he said. "My suspicion in this regard is that we are also dealing with a situation that has connections to a wide range of different attack scenarios." This is currently being examined by the investigating authorities, he said.
The Greens and the Left party called on the federal government to establish clear responsibilities for drone defence. "Particularly in the field of drone defence, we finally need sound legal foundations and crystal-clear responsibilities," Green Party domestic policy expert Konstantin von Notz told the "Rheinische Post" (Wednesday edition). Dobrindt must therefore "finally assign the Federal Police the lead role in securing aviation security".
Left party member of parliament Jan Köstering emphasised in a statement that the goal must be "optimal cooperation and coordination among the relevant authorities". To achieve this, Dobrindt must create structures for "clear responsibilities". Dobrindt rejected the accusations of a "muddle of competences". When it comes to drone defence, Germany is "very well positioned", he told journalists.
Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) stressed, with regard to the new technology centre, that it was important for expertise in drone technology to be concentrated at the site of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Germany, she said, is already "outstanding in basic research. But when it comes to application, we simply have to get faster." Dobrindt emphasised that the innovation cycles between defensive capabilities and the techniques used to circumvent them now amount to just eight to twelve weeks.
DLR Chair of the Executive Board Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla said one possible application was detection systems designed to determine more quickly what type of drone is approaching. "Is it carrying a camera, or is it carrying explosives, for example," she told the news agency AFP.
According to Kaysser-Pyzalla, the number of permanent employees at the DLR site will now rise from 40 to 65 with the establishment of the drone security centre. For specific testing or research projects, however, the centre also offers space for more than 250 people.
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