While she has just announced the upcoming creation, within the Heer [forces terrestres]a new division dedicated to internal security [la « Heimatschutzdivision », ou HSchDiv]the Bundeswehr is formally not authorized to shoot down unknown drones likely to threaten Germany's critical infrastructure.
Indeed, across the Rhine, the fight against drones falls to the police as soon as civilian sites are concerned. However, at their request, the Bundeswehr can provide support to the civil authorities, provided that they do not have the material means and human resources specific to this area. But it is not authorized to shoot down a drone that is suspicious.
In the meantime, unknown drone flights are increasing around sensitive German sites. Including those of the Bundeswehr, which reported around sixty incidents between the start of the war in Ukraine and June 2023.
Thus, in August, several unauthorized flights – and at “high speed” – of the industrial zone “ChemCoast Park” which, located in Brunsbüttel [Schleswig-Holstein]notably houses a new LNG terminal and a decommissioned nuclear power plant, were noted. An investigation into “suspected activity of agents for sabotage purposes” is still underway.
Last month, it was reported that factories in the petrochemical industry in southern Germany had in turn been flown over by drones, similar to those seen in Brunsbüttel. Earlier, the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, while stopping in Hamburg, was approached by unknown aircraft. Same thing for the Ramstein air base, where the European headquarters of the US Air Force is located, as well as for a Rheinmetall group factory.
And it's not over yet. On January 13, German authorities said they were investigating unauthorized overflights of military and industrial facilities in Manching. [Bavière]where Airbus Defense & Space assembles the Eurofighter EF-2000 / Typhoon combat aircraft. The case was handed over to the Bavarian Criminal Police Office, under the direction of the Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism [ZET].
Faced with this phenomenon, the idea of changing the legislation is gaining ground across the Rhine. “We have seen since Putin's invasion of Ukraine that drones are used more and more often,” noted Nancy Faeser, the German minister. [démissionnaire] of the Interior. And to conclude that the Bundeswehr had to be authorized to shoot down these aircraft. Hence a bill which will soon be presented to Parliament.
“Drones, as tools of espionage and sabotage, can pose a serious threat, particularly to our critical infrastructure. Police authorities are constantly developing their means of detection and defense against drones,” the German minister first underlined.
However, given that these machines have “sophisticated flight characteristics” and “performance much higher than that of commercially available drones”, the German police do not always have the means to intervene. Also, for Ms. Faeser, it is “necessary to authorize, in the air safety law, the Bundewehr to intervene “in the event of serious dangers” and “in particular to shoot down drones flying illegally”. And “this will increase the protection of our critical infrastructure,” she argued.
“The prerequisite is that, given the circumstances, it can be assumed that a drone is intended to be used against the lives of people or against a critical facility, and that the use of armed force is the only way to avoid this danger,” she nevertheless clarified.
