Germany opens new centre to bolster drone defences

Germany is stepping up efforts to improve its ability to detect and counter dangerous drones, with a new research centre opening in Saxony-Anhalt as concerns over drone-related security threats grow.

The new drone-security technology centre at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) site in Cochstedt will develop and test technologies for detecting and countering drones under realistic conditions, Caliber.Az reports, citing German media.

The DLR site in Braunschweig will also be involved in the project.

The centre is being presented as a unique facility in Germany. Its opening is due to be attended by Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär and Saxony-Anhalt Minister-President Sven Schulze.

The initiative comes after a recent incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport, where a modified drone carrying explosives was discovered among several Ukrainian cargo aircraft.

Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office described the incident as a “serious attack on Germany's transport and logistics infrastructure”.

The incident has renewed calls from federal and state interior ministers for faster progress in strengthening Germany's drone defences.

The new research centre forms part of a broader government effort to address the threat. Other measures include plans for a Federal Police drone-defence unit and the creation of a joint drone-defence centre involving the federal and state governments.

The authorities have not indicated that the new centre will replace existing security measures, but rather that its research and testing capabilities will support the wider development of Germany's counter-drone capabilities.

By Aghakazim Guliyev