New German drone policy raises fears for life-saving medical deliveries

Germany has approved a reform allowing police to shoot down drones if necessary, following recent drone sightings that halted operations at Munich Airport. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced the creation of a dedicated federal police drone defence unit. However, this policy raises concerns over the safety of civilian drones, which play a vital role in logistics and healthcare, transporting medicines, vaccines, and laboratory samples between hospitals.

"Where we fly, there's no longer an alternative," Norman Koerschulte, founder of Morpheus Logistik, Germany’s only drone logistics company, told Euronews, highlighting drones' ability to bypass traffic and deliver supplies quickly.

Morpheus Logistik’s drones transport around 250 laboratory samples per flight. Similarly, the Asklepios hospital group uses drones to transport medical samples over 50 kilometers in northern Germany, easing road traffic and enabling faster, climate-friendly deliveries.

Germany requires drones over 250 grams, professional drones, or those flying in sensitive areas to carry a "digital licence plate" (EID), accessible only to authorities, to prevent misuse of position data. Failure to display an EID can lead to fines or imprisonment in severe cases. Mini recreational drones are generally exempt. The recent drone sightings remain unclear as no devices have been recovered.

Drones are monitored via systems like FLAN and ADS-B, though linking drones to operators requires official registration. Koerschulte advocates for nationwide and EU-wide full identification of drones within the lower airspace (up to 7.5 km altitude).

"We would need to introduce this identification requirement nationwide and eventually across the EU," Koerschulte said.

He compared this transparency to Flightradar24, which tracks manned aircraft in real time.

Koerschulte warned that shooting down drones, as suggested by Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder, is inefficient given the high number of drone pilots in Germany and could cause confusion. Instead, he favors systems that identify drone origins to reduce fears and improve airspace clarity.

"Every technology can unfortunately be used for both 'good' and 'bad' purposes," he said.

By Sabina Mammadli