[Original in German. Automated translation with minimal edits.] …
The German Federal Police are to provide more protection against drone attacks at German airports. 300 special forces are to be deployed at eight locations across Germany. More defence technology is also planned.
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The special forces are to track down drones, intercept them and, if necessary, render them harmless. So far, the federal government has assumed around 130 people.
Instead of four locations for drone defence in Germany, eight are now planned “in order to be on site quickly and flexibly when needed”. The spokeswoman did not say where the future locations would be.
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Last week, a drone loaded with explosives was discovered near Ukrainian cargo planes at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Meanwhile, the newspaper Zeit reported, citing surveillance cameras, that the drone had been flown deliberately towards a Ukrainian cargo plane and had hit its wing. Traces of the impact were visible on one wing of the Antonov aircraft.
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However, the missile, which was equipped with Semtex explosive, did not explode. The explosives may have detached on impact and were not found on the drone itself, but at some distance away. It is unclear why the explosive device did not detonate.
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The German government has not yet commented on progress in the investigation or possible links to previous operations with connections to Russia. Security circles are convinced that the drone was modified by a professional with technical expertise.
In July 2024, an air freight parcel ignited in the DHL logistics centre in Leipzig. Security circles believe that the package was placed on Russia’s behalf. At that time, Germany probably only narrowly escaped an aircraft crash.
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[Edit typo.]
Ukraine has been trying really really hard to properly defend against Russian drones and still struggle with it. That is during war time with a lot of resources spend and mostly in a war zone, with less civilian risk. During peace time this becomes a lot harder. Shooting down birds is not a good idea for example. Electronic counter measures are not a decent option either, since radio communication is used for a lot of civilian applications. It for example would require turning of the mobile internet. That is not to mention the number of police officers required to reasonably protect every potential target.
This is not to say that police should not have anti drone options. They are clearly needed to protect large events for example. But it is impossible to protect everything. The real solution is to take out hostile actors before they do something like this. In this case that means helping Ukraine.