The budget committee of the Bundestag gave the green light to the defense plan against drones, which have been spying on German airports and sensitive infrastructure for months. According to Bild am Sonntag, Germany attributes the mentioned activities to Russia.
“Drones and the growing number of cyber attacks represent a new hybrid threat that we will definitely respond to,” said Dobrindt. “In the short term, the federal government will invest 100 million euros (2.4 billion crowns) in modern defense against drones,” he added.
According to the Minister of the Interior, the purchase of radar stations, signal jammers, GPS jammers, lasers and fighter drones is planned. A new specialized police unit consisting of 130 police officers will also be created by December. They will protect Berlin, the airport and several other places. The German police can now shoot down drones that occur in the vicinity of airports, railways or ships.
Incidents are reported by pilots and air traffic controllers
Since the beginning of this year, according to The Wall Street Journal, Germany has already recorded more than a thousand cases of “unauthorized use of drones”. In protected airspace, German pilots and air traffic controllers reported 172 incidents with unmanned aircraft from January to September.
These are commercial drones the size of toys up to machines that fly in tight formations of up to fifteen pieces, which, according to security analysts, indicates careful planning of incidents involving foreign state organizations.
Incidents with drones of unknown origin required the repeated closure of airports in several German cities. Denmark, Norway and Belgium also reported a similar situation.
